Daggers - Euphoria Album Review

It’s bleak, austere and dark but it’ll have you hankering for more.

By Rhys Milsom / May 14, 2012

rating: 4

Postcard-perfect, picturesque towns; luxurious, delicate chocolate; rich, deep beers - these are the main things most people would associate with Belgium. Perfect for a weekend away, the country caters for a wide range of people. Young couples will find solace in the many bars and pubs that are scattered throughout the towns and villages and can bathe in the emeralds of young-love while they enjoy the views as they walk back from their afternoon cubby-hole; those of you in your middle-age can take time out and separate yourselves from lifes busy schedule as you step into many a historical tour and sample some of Belgiums finest cuisine; and for the older generation, youll no doubt take pleasure in the relaxed atmosphere, and the tales of the friendly locals wholl make sure you leave with every grain of information fermenting as healthily as the Leffe brewed a stones throw away. Well, thats my travel journalism down for the day. Perhaps I should give some of the tabloids a ring, see if theyre looking for a travel journo? Lets face it getting paid to see the world and to write about it is pretty much a dream job. But this one aint so bad, either. Especially when youre sent material like this. Underneath the surface of the first paragraph is another part of Belgium that those blind tourists dont get to see. Curled up in the womb of the country is a dark, thriving music scene thats lent its umbilical cord to bands such as Rise And Fall, AmenRa, Oathbreaker, Black Haven, and now, Daggers. From their first self-titled release, the band have focused on an absorbing, modern-sounding hardcore thats laced with an almost retro-sounding rocknroll layer. And, each year, since the release of their self-titled 2008 release, the band have come up with a new record that ups the standard of the previous. This release is no different. Euphoria is possibly the most complete-sounding record the band have created. From the terrifyingly visceral vocals to the frantically uniformed drumming and the rigidly sharp, gloomy, concise guitars the album will have your ears melting into the speakers and every single, minute memory of anger and loss will be overwhelmed by the bands purity and wealth of hatred for a world sopping with misery and deception. From the opening track, Freaks, the gates of Daggers world are left open for all the gloomy shadows, boiling rage and spine-tingling tension to permeate the rest of the album. The riff drives through the track like some ghoul-driven truck, changing gears along with the shift in the drum pattern. This low riff soon pares away for an elusively picked guitar that makes the vocals sound even more like a creature from the hellmouth than on anything weve heard by Daggers before and the final lyric of Sons of machines, sick of it all! adds an element of nihilism that Charles Manson would be in awe of. Mohawk begins with a hazy, droning guitar that progresses into an uptight, clenched riff that swings throughout the track like Thors hammer. The drums cut through the track, scattering the high-hat and double-bass along the guitar strings like blocks on an abacus. The vocals, again, are a highlight and the almost bark-like style truly adds a modern-hardcore essence in the veins of countrymen Rise And Fall and juggernauts Converge. Riot is actually that. 30 seconds of hazy feedback bursts apart with an evil, augmented riff that acts, in metaphor, almost like a general to its troops. Demanding the drums act measurably, keeping a tight grip on the frayed sound of the guitar, the general isnt to be argued with, so the drums do indeed keep a tight leash on a sound that could have easily gone loose with a less tight band. The lyrics of Ive met a bunch of lost souls standing on the brink. I see the whole human world standing down into the void are possibly the darkest and nihilism-tinged ones we come across. The album ends on the ambient, pared-down Gloom. Its 2 minutes of slow, drawn-out melody that hinges on its name rather than anything else. The track is gloom and itll be harder for you to come across anything thatll leave you so stark. A perfect way to end an album that thrives in the more desolate aspects of the world. Euphoria is the strongest offering that Daggers have given us yet its bleak, austere and dark but itll have you hankering for more. Itll dig into the most anguished part of your soul and will urge you to spew it out over the surface of every track.