Customer Reviews

Tearing Down Your Blue Skies

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

These guys are out of Boston with their third album here "Tearing Down Your Blue Skies". New singer Paul Stoddard is unveiled in this album. His vocals have great versatility as he will be heard here with grunts, shouts, shrieks, and melodic singing that change almost effortlessly it seems. The instrumental teammates wont dissappoint either, but you can tell the aim of these guys is to put together great song writing ability and performance, in other words they dont wnat to go into a thousand directions musically at once. Early highlights are "Fire/Damage", "Torn from Within", and "Savior" which succeed for their tight-fisted, start-stop rhythmic barrage and their smart, melodic hooks. However they also enjoy a full unaviodable "heavy metal" on par with post-hardcore, post-nu metal, metal bands such as "God Forbid", "Shadows Fall", or "Killswitch Engage". This is not a single downside to this entire album the keep the same excellent formula going throughout, which leaves one to believe Diecast may be just a few degrees away from achieving theboilingpoint in a few years.

1.Fire Damage - 8/10
2.Seize the day - 7/10
3.Torn From Within - 8.5/10
4.Savior - 9/10
5.Rise and Oppose - 7.5/10
6.Sacrifice - 8/10
7.Medieval - 9.5/10
8.Traitor - 6/10
9.These Days - 6.5/10
10.Pendulum - 9/10
11.Rebirth - 5/10

Total - 84/110 or 7.6/10

First of all I would like to say that if you have read the previous review, disregard it. That person obviously doesnt know what music is and probably thinks blink 182 is the best metal band of all time. Now onto the reveiw: Day of Reckoning was in my opinion one of the most underrated albums when it was released. It was punishing with unrelentless double bass and fast picking. The newest release from boston's Diecast is sure to leave listeners wondering how a band could come up with these riffs all on their own. Yes, there is more singing but it is NOT the EMO singing that most bands today are accustomed of doing. The vocals are very well done, while I had my doubts that it wouldnt be as good as the old cd. The guitars have greatly improved, using many different types of chords and time changes. But the shining moment of the cd is definitly Costa on the drums. I have said back when I first heard the first cd that he was definitly on of the best drummers in metal and if you need any convincing that he hasnt lost his touch just listen to the last track rebirth. Overall I feel like this is a very solid effort from an extremely underrated band and it's sure to skyrocket them into the upper tiers of the new wave of metal alongside Shadow's Fall, Unearth, and God Forbid.
Fave songs:
Fire/Damage
Pendulum
Savior
Sacrafice
Rebirth

ok, first of all, this is in no way revolutionary, or origional, or a masterpiece. It is simply a good metal album, nothing more. Personally i liked the album, being a fan of the thrash scene, it's nice to see diecast bring a bit of the old 80's thrash and update it, it makes an awesome song. You won't like this if you dont like metal, but i'm assuming if you're here you like metal. I'm not an expert, i'm 15, i listen to a ton of music new and old, from Tool, to The Rolling Stones, to Weezer, to Slayer. So i'm all over the place musically, and this cd just happens to be one of my favourites at the moment, and is getting pretty heavy rotation in my cd. Like other reviewers said, this is not LoG, or Shadows Fall. Both of those bands are awesome, but dont expect anything like either of them on here. Rise and Oppose and Fire Damage were the best tracks in my opinion, but it's all pretty good.

I first heard of Diecast when I bought Shadows Fall's "The War Within" at a record store. There was a CD sampler encased with tracks by God Forbid, The Haunted, HeavenShallBurn and Stampin' Ground as well. "Medieval" fails to hook in the very beginning, but when they stop the singing and it starts to have a Hatebreed-esque feel to it, this is the part of the song that catches me. "Rise and Oppose" is a better track with a catchy intro. Overall, I give this 3 stars, as it sounds a lot like Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage, but it's decent. Now I have to get lucky and find the first two Diecast releases, "Day Of Reckoning" and "Undo The Wicked". I heard that the record company Diecast released these CD's is going under, so there may be no chance at reissuing them, unless Diecast re-released them on Century Media, just like Cryptopsy and Krisiun did with their first two albums. (Cryptopsy rules, Krisiun sucks.)

First of all, I dunno what you all are are talking about. The last CD was decent. This CD BLOWS DAY OFF RECKONING off the map!!Colin did not have the power and range Paul has.Paul is a great vocalist. Colin is not Paul get over it people. Best thing they are did was get Paul. This band is way better now than they ever were!! It's more like Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall and all the other bands that have come from mass in this genere sound like DIECAST!! DIECAST WERE one of the first bands to play this music!!! not KSE or Shadows Fall,Unearth etc etc. I strongly reccomend buying. TEARING DOWN YOUR BLUE SKIES!!! GREAT CD!!!

As an older metal fan, it's great to hear bands playing real metal. How do I define real metal? I can't put it into words, but I know it when I hear it. And I definitely hear it on this CD. Fire Damage was the first song I heard from this band, and it blew me away. The music, lyrics, vocals.... amazing. So I bought this album and was not disappointed. Some bands have great music, only to blow it with meaningless lyrics or mediocre vocals. But this band has it all. I can't wait to see this band live - I'm sure the energy will be overwhelming! Old metal fans and new metal fans alike - get this one!

But, They really arent doing anything new; Its a pretty standard metalcore album... Good Songs, but I dont think it has staying power. Ever since Killswitch Engage - Alive or Just Breathing? (which is the blueprint, and probably THE best example of metalcore), Many, Many bands have tried to duplicate the sound. And, in truth, these guys are pretty close.... but nonetheless, would benefit by carving out their own identity instead of sticking with the formula.

Songs such as "Savior", "Traitor", and "Fire/Damage" are standout tracks, though.

This album is awesome. Sure, it's not as hardcore as their last one because of all of the melodic singing, but I like it. The singing adds another element to the music, there's more soul. This reminds me of what Nothingface did with their music, hardcore with melodic tones and singing. Great album, pick it up.

Flash back to 2004: metalcore is in and nu-metal is officially out. Thus, many are wary of post nu-metal metalcore bands like Diecast, for fear they are nothing more than trend-jumpers, even though many seem to forget that they five-piece were around long before metalcore's popularity peak in 2004. Truth be told, though, the third album from this Boston-based five-piece, "Tearing Down Your Blue Skies" (which only happened to be released that some year), is actually a good little record. It is comprised of eleven nu-ish, hardcore-influenced-modern metal songs (or thirteen if you count the two bonus ones that came with the disc's 2006 reissue) characterized by fairly strong riffing, steady bass parts, surprisingly upper-tier drumming, and versatile, accomplished vocals that split the difference between Sevendust's Lajon Witherspoon, Killswitch Engage's Howard Jones, and Hatebreed 's Jamey Jasta. Yes, the heavy-to-melodic deliver might be formulaic, but it is a formula that works almost every time. And sure, the formula can't help but get a little tired in the second half (see "These Days" and "Pendulum,") but even in those songs still rock really hard. Thus, there isn't a single outright stinker to be found here.

Openers "Fire/Damage" (which has a brief yet pretty acoustic, almost flamenco-sounding guitar intro), "Seize The Day," and "Torn From Within" succeed at balancing hard-hitting, in-your-face beginnings (there are gobs of heavy riffs and great, driving, rapid-fire double bass slamming to be heard here!) with Helmet-inspired stop-start rhythms, forceful breakdowns, smart melodic hooks, and effective, sweetly-sung, emo-lite choruses. Later on, "Slavior" and the anthemic "Sacrifice" are blatantly obvious high-fives to radio consideration. And even though these tunes tread a little to closely to the kind of stuff put out by Disturbed and Hawthorn Heights, they are nonetheless quite catchy and infectious. On the flip side, cuts like "Rise and Oppose," "Traitor," and "Rebirth" compensate for those watered-down moments with pure hardcore aggression. They pummels the listener's ear drums with very visceral, Hatebreed-esque bellows, musclebound guitars, and breakdown on top of huge, thunderous, circle-pit-inducing breakdown. Lastly of note is track seven, "Medieval," which boasts good, churning thrash riffs and propulsive, Pantera -style groove.

"Tearing Down Your Blue Skies" is not a particularly unique or especially life-chaning release. But it is an honest, respectable, and thoroughly exceptionable and enjoyable effort from beginning to end. So, ultimately, in no way is it essential listening, but all metalcore diehards should find it a worthwhile grab.

This cd might contain material sung by countless other bands, but not as well as Diecast. Something about this cd that makes me it repeat the cd after its over. Its diffently in my top 20 of the best cds of the last 20 years. The only problem with the cd is some songs start with awesome heavy lyrics but end up with sappy lyrics. It only happens in a few songs, but it doesnt affect my opinion on the band. One of the best undiscovered bands going.