I had no prior knowledge of Connecticut's Dead by Wednesday and wasn't sure what to expect. However, after several listens of their new EP, Death of The Rockstar, I would have to say the band is on to something. This is the group's fourth album to date and proves to be a farewell in essence. Longtime guitarist Ross Ragusa departed the band shortly after this release. His replacement is Joey Concepcion, a new virtuoso who has been described as a "young Yngwie". The opening track, "Death of The Rockstar", is a bit of a slow burner and takes some time for the vocals to sink in. What is strikingly apparent is the great riffs and lively energy. "When in Rome" is a prime example of a great riff being used as the base for a song and building off of that momentum for a superb showing. Good clean vocals, heavy breakdowns and addictive melodies make this a formidable track and probably my favorite of the album. The other three tracks are solid metalcore with appropriate clean and growled vocals layered over each other, complete with the mandatory heavy breakdowns and decent solos of this style. The bass player has a few "Les Claypool" moments which really caught me by surprise and add a fun element to the group. Dead by Wednesday shows that they don't plan on following the typical approach, and by doing so, set themselves apart. This isn't your average metalcore.
