Days of the New

Another defunct band. Is it a curse of mine?

Through fate or coincidence, I got into this band after writing "Ashes and Fire." I challenge you to listen to their second album and not understand why the next story in Things Once Linked after "Ashes and Fire" was a Western, "Bring Yourself," named after a song on the album #2. It wasn’t until I listened longer that I realized that #2’s lyrics often concern reincarnation. The second album had also been used in writing "Nevermore." Selected cuts off the first album helped me write "Breaking" too.

I love the guitar work, while the second album adds violins and orchestra. One funny thing is that I can’t help harmonizing my own voice to the first album, and somebody involved with the band had the same idea since the second album uses a "choir." The third album--which might be studio remnants or something they actually intended to release as an album, I don't know--came out after they broke up and also showed some evolution, though it sounds like its songs might have been conceived sometime between the first and second albums.

The lyrics can be wince-worthy in parts, though. You can be going great, then hit a clunker line that makes you want to bury your head under something. Travis Meeks’ rendition of lyrics can sometimes be a bit hard to follow: the lyrics I heard for "Flight Response" are utterly different than the ones actually used. And I like mine better. That’s not uncommon.

Travis Meeks, singer and lyrics writer, fired the band. The band has stayed together, found a new singer, and renamed itself "Tantric." Same guitars, but I hate their new vocalist’s voice....

Albums: Days of the New (#1, yellow), Days of the New (#2, green), Days of the New (#3, red). That's right. They didn't give their albums titles. I got the first two as a gift when my grandmother couldn't figure out which one I wanted. It worked out in the end, but it might not have....