Elliot Golan/ The Roundup
Chester Bennington’s side project, Dead By Sunrise, doesn’t quite make it to dawn.
The combative screaming Bennington regularly displays when performing with Rap/Rock legends Linkin Park is vacant from the sound. Dead By Sunrise is Bennington and the members of Julein-k, a band heavily driven by electronics.
“Out of Ashes” replaces the grit and aggression Bennington is known for with subsophmoric, self-loathing, lines.
The first single off of the record, “Crawl Back In” features lyrics such as, “Sometimes I lie. Sometimes I crawl. Sometimes I feel like I want to die.”
The record is about Bennington’s rebirth. With track titles like “Too late,” “My suffering,” “Condemned,” and “In the Darkness,” Bennington has crossed over into the dark side of music, where only tears categorize the dim and dumb musical dungeon of “emo.”
The saving grace of the entire body of work is “Condemned.” With a tough guitar part matching raspy vocals and screams, it delights with it’s raw and violent sound. As Bennington urges “Come on and beat me. I’m not a man,” I finally began to feel the blood pumping in my veins. Too bad the track was placed at the tail end of the CD.
“Out of Ashes” suffers from too many different forces trying to collaborate in harmony. The influence of Producer Howard Benson, best known for his work with the melodramatic music of My Chemical Romance, is felt strongly within the record.
High expectations hinders the group more than poor effort. With the iconic persona of Bennington at the lead, legions of fans were eager to see the rockers escape from the hip hop influences of Linkin Park.
Along with Benson, having a musical section known for electronic pop and a songwriter popular for angst-driven lyrics, Dead By Sunrise seems dazed and confused.