Canada’s Art Of Dying Gives Rock Fans Something To Live For

Oh Canada. The country is best known for ice hockey, maple syrup, and apparently a vibrant rock scene. Have you heard of this small group called Nickelback? Yep, they’re Canadian. What about Three Days Grace? They’re Canadian as well. Ok one more: Arcade Fire? You got it: Canadian. Well I recently discovered a fairly new rock band from Canada to add to that list. That band is called Art of Dying. Whatever the Great White North is feeding its children is making them into some talented rock machines and Art of Dying is no exception.

Art of Dying’s latest album is entitled “Vices and Virtues” which was released through Intoxication/Reprise Records in late September 2011. Intoxication Records just happens to be a label started by Dan Donegan and David Draiman from the band Disturbed, who noticed Art of Dying a couple of years ago and helped them out a little… just a little, you know: record deal, opening up for them in big tours, etc. For the band to impress the Disturbed fellas they MUST have something special so I took a listen to their album, even if it were simply to see if the Disturbed crew were full of it. To my delight, Donegan and Draiman weren’t full of crap. This album rocks.

With a name like “Art of Dying” one might expect the band to be a morbid death metal band that wears nothing but black clothes, chains, and enough spikes to make porcupines jealous. The music is not at all death metal. It’s modern hard rock, similar in vein to Three Days Grace, Nickelback, and Shinedown. The songs are concise and well written with plenty of vocal hooks and guitar riffs to keep any hard rock fan interested. Songs like “Die Trying”, “Completely”, and “You Don’t Know Me” are some high energy rocking tunes while songs like “Get Through This”, “Sorry”, and “Straight Across My Mind” are a little less heavy but still have a nice rock vibe. The best slow song (hey there’s got to be at least one or two in an album right?) is definitely “Best I Can”. The song’s simple yet mesmerizing guitar arpeggio in the introduction sets up country-esque vocals with some introspective lyrics. All the songs in the record have pretty decent lyrics which convey positive messages through hope and perseverance. They accomplish this without becoming preachy or playing the “woe is me I’m a tortured artist who loves cheese with my whine” card.

The first thing I noticed when listening to “Vices and Virtues” was how similar vocalist Johnny Hetherington sounds to Adam Gontier (singer for Three Days Grace) and Chad Kroeger (singer for Nickelback). His voice is similar yet unique enough to stand on its own and give the band its own identity. Throughout the album he exhibits a nice range of dynamics, from gritty high vocals to a warmer lower range. The rest of the band is solid but not flashy. Guitarists Greg Bradley and Travis Stanley play off of each other very well with great rhythms, chord changes, and melodic lines that always work within the context of the song. Bassist Cale Gontier keeps a steady groove and, thanks to the high production value on the album, you hear quite a bit of him. The drummer Jeff Brown takes a simple yet powerful approach to his drumming on the record, providing thunderous grooves and plenty of cymbals to keep the energy high. The backing vocals of Gontier and Stanley are really spectacular. Three part vocal harmonies are no joke and the band uses them very well throughout the album.

For better or for worse, the band definitely has a similar sound to Three Days Grace, Nickelback, and Shinedown. It probably helps that the producer on the record, Howard Benson, has worked with notable acts such as Flyleaf, Daughtry, and Three Days Grace (aha!). All of these bands have a somewhat Southern rock edge to them, which is slightly ironic since these bands are from the Great White NORTH. Maybe it’s the frequent flyer miles, maybe it’s a lot of Lynrd Skynrd in the record stores up there, or maybe it’s Maybelline… whatever the case, these bands have a similar style that puts emphasis on one thing and one thing alone: basic songwriting. No one instrument or band member stands out in “Vices and Virtues” as they all work with each other to create songs. The downside to this simplistic approach in the album is that some of the riffs become forgettable, even after repeat listening. Also, with simplicity comes an even greater emphasis on the vocals, which means the lyrics and singer’s voice have to be spot on. The lyrical content, although mostly good on the record, suffer at times for being too literal, simple, and lacking creativity. Even so, the band did a great job on this record and I’m sure their artistic expression will only grow in the future. I’ll definitely be seeing them on their upcoming tour with Shinedown and Adelitas Way when they come to NYC on April 20th, 2012

I say hats off to you, Canada, for giving us another rock band that has some balls. Some may argue the ballsy-ness about Nickelback but nobody can argue that they’ve had a lot of financial success and longevity. Rush is another classic Canadian group that grosses millions of dollars per year and who have been together FOR-E-VER. Seriously, I think Theodore Roosevelt was a Rush fan. Anyway, I hope the Canadian rock gods bestow the same fortunes for Art of Dying. Let them also conjure up some more new acts so we can have more rock bands to be excited aboot…er, about.

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