Review: Grey Daze- Amends
Devastation, heartache and pain can lead to the best music. Fans resonate with it and sometimes it can actually save another’s life. This is the case with Grey Daze and their Amends record.
Grey Daze is the band Chester Bennington fronted pre-Linkin Park and, shortly before his passing, he had reconnected with the members and they’d re-recorded a lot of their older material and were preparing to release it.
Luckily, the band decided to move forward with those plans after Chester passed away and the record is now out to the public and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
“Sickness,” the lead single is far from the strongest song on the record but hearing Bennington’s vocals again is just calming and and the slow, smooth rhythm of the track is hypnotizing.
Then we get to “Sometimes.” Chester’s vocals here are bone-chilling. This is one of the best songs on the album and should have been the lead single.
It’s tear-inducing, emotion-filled and so fucking good. Hearing Chester belt out the chorus brings you to your knees.
“What’s in the Eye” is gritty, raw and has a grungy feel that adds to the vibe of the song while “The Syndrome” has kind of an early Linkin Park vibe. Electronic meets hard rock here but with peaceful verses and killer aggressive chorus.
With “In Time,” Chester’s vocals are powerful as ever and a perfect example of Bennington being able to soothe you to sleep and calm you but also scare the hell out of you at the same time while “Soul Song”- much like “Sometimes” is a strong ballad and one of his most moving vocal offerings. This song is lyrically gripping and heart-shattering.
“Soul Song” is also part of a four-ballad punch out combo with “Morei Sky,” “She Shines” and “Shouting Out” that closes out the record in a peaceful way.
In the end, Amends feels like a love letter to mental health and offers a hand and shoulder to anyone struggling with it.
With Amends, the guys in Grey Daze make you feel what they’re singing. You can feel the pain, sorrow and anger behind the lyrics and, though heart-wrenching at times it also gives you a sense of closure to hear Chester singing again on new material. This is the music his fans needed and wanted to hear and is everything they could have ever expected and more.
Thank you, Grey Daze, thank you.
Rating: 9/10
-Reggie Edwards