I'm nearing twenty years of age and never once during these nineteen-plus years have I been able to view things in anything but color. Don't get me wrong, I've seen black and white films; I've also taken and viewed black and white pictures. For my twentieth birthday I will get my eyes removed and in the empty sockets dog eyes will be inserted. Now, with the help of advanced CG animation capabilities that ScenePointBlank recently purchased, begins my day in black and white.
I awake to a few chords slightly being strummed. This is a Level-Plane release, so as I dress myself, I prepare for screaming. Instead, a few more minutes of guitar harmonies tangle as drums rise to the falling of my morning wood. Speaking of rising, this is my first time viewing a sun rise in such colorless details. The whites are sharp and shadowed by singing that is yelled, not sharply screamed. Similar to the view of the sun, there isn't much diversity in the vocal department. What's very refreshing though, is that vocally they don't sound like anybody in particular. It sounds like someone is singing really hard with an English accent minus any screeching. Melodically entrancing guitar kisses and rhythm that starts at your toes and scratches its way into your chest are a great way to exit my residence and enter the world. But instead of entering a City Of Caterpillar, this is a city of butterflies. There's the same post-rock-crescendo-driven screamo sound, but it's more vibrant and pretty sounding, less gritty. While to some this could be seen as a bad thing, in my current condition, it is very enjoyable. The band's use of the delay-pedal-effect sound creates streaks behind everything that moves and, just as it starts to make sense, everything drops. Except for my pants of course. I get into my car, because I'm going to have to drive fast to keep up with these speeds. All the traffic lights are green; I know this because of where they are on the signs, because the green is grey, omgz. I begin bobbing my head. I could live in this world; the lack of color is okay, and the vibrancy and contrast more than makes up for it. As I turn on the radio, all music comes to a dead stop and I collide with a parking meter. The change falls out steadily.
The final track, "The Illusion Of The End" begins, and I decide to walk it off. It's night time at this point and the stars are as bright as ever. "The Illusion Of The End" is an instrumental track that is eleven and a half minutes, so I brace myself for a Explosions In The Sky ripoff track. Instead I am faced with non-jangly build up track. While there is definite beauty, it doesn't stab you in the head with contrived smiles or pretentious sighs. What we have here is a pretty instrumental that anybody can enjoy, not just people who like boring-thirty-minute songs. The drum beat that comes in at seven minutes is one of my favorite beats I've heard, in black and white or color. It's very full but not so full that it takes over the song. This provides another layer, while the acoustic guitars and piano that melt over one another. The intensity keeps rising, and as the distortion kicks in, I begin jogging in the direction of my bed. There's an almost heavy feel to the song that makes me want to lunge, but it's not jud-jud-blah. With the rise of your senses comes the end of the record.
Thank you readers for helping this happen, with ScenePointBlank getting CG animation and all. Without you, this birthday wouldn't be nearly as splendid! More importantly, thank you A Day In Black And White. Even though this is on Level-Plane and without a doubt rules, people are not talking about it. Well do yourself a favor and check this out ASAP. It's not necessarily as good as City Of Caterpillar, but it does help fill the gap that they so sadly left. Thankfully ADIBAW doesn't fill it in a generic trying-to-be-them way. If you heard the demo by this band or anything previous to this, don't let that fool you, as they left that sound behind nearly completely. Definite top ten contender of 2004.
