Review by Alex on September 13, 2018.

In this catacomb lies another band that deserves more recognition for these blissful yet “haunting” images they paint of ghastly figures, shadows and once entombed bodies. Beautiful is the voice of the front woman Cristina; her shallow bluesy themed vocals and her seductive wails are what has molded Dayburner into a ritual-like exercise of musical trance. The guitars are like a mermaid swimming deep below the calm ocean at the blackest of nights, like a creature that slithers past the corner of your eyes and challenges your sanity from time to time. The drums ever so mellow play to the horrors awaiting each veiled entry of the nightly necropolis. Ambrosial are the ballads, yet foreboding as they speak in cryptic tongue of evils beyond the common imagination and perception. 

Cristina Chimirri describes what she saw on the other side through Dayburner, we joined in and listened to her recollection and interpretation; her unshakable focus into the forbidden unmatched by anything I’ve heard in stoner/doom metal to date. So primitive in sound yet so profound in meaning, this quintet knows how to eliminate reality momentarily and extract the unwanted things of the otherworldly/unknown and channel it through Cthulhu's conduit that is attached to all beings, some just realize it early on whilst others fail to recognize the importance it serves and roles it plays in the shaping of mankind's existence. Sounding like a fucking lunatic right? Open your pineal gland and partake in this crepuscular ceremony, unchain your mind from the constraints of the matrix and indulge in the beckoning voices of lust conjoined by occult recitation. This is one of many results ascertained when Freud’s concept of the Id and the overwhelming powers of witchcraft clash, they fragment the semblances of cognition into singular experiences. Dayburner exalts and celebrates the union of these subconscious and ever so dormant yet dominant forces that act in secrecy, either as separate or integrated entities. Homogeneously they create a domain that is both idiosyncratic and sophisticated in its reaming of the peephole thus casting more luminance in the tunnels of uncertainty. “Vespertine” gives rise to Haunted’s best melodic performance on Dayburner in 13 minutes of pure musical superiority. Cristina’s voice goes through multiple changes to match the softer and harsher sounds of the guitar. Her versatility and vocal ranges are outstanding, she has a slightly East Indian element to her sound which helps the music greatly in creating that supernatural feeling that clings tightly to every song on the record. 

You don't have to be stoned/high to experience what is being gifted on Dayburner; the music easily takes you from your current state of consciousness to another place which fulfills your stoner/doom metal fetishes. It’s like listening to The Munsens Abbey Rose but with female fronted vocals. The bass and production matches the rhythm and along with Cristina’s voice creates an eerie overtone. The songs sit still like an ornament waiting to be adored and feared upon discovery/examination. The immersion level is high on Dayburner, all you need is a quiet candle lit surrounding or better, just the blackness of an open night sky on a waxing/waning moon. This is perfect music for the Autumn season, “Waterdawn” has an ominous chill, but also possesses a rhythm that flows like a calm moonlit ocean. Each song offers a unique presence via its diverse structure when compared to any other track on Dayburner. The flow is ecliptic in a way; the first song on the record being “Mourning Sun” has a gloomy sense of luminosity that gradually diminishes as each song progresses until the only thing visible is complete darkness. Judging by the slow pace in which 99% of the songs were composed it must have been a challenge for the drummer to perform. Finding a good doom metal drummer is difficult as I’ve heard some say and I would have to agree as I have seen and continue to discover bands in which the vocalist also is the drummer both live and in the studio. This seems so because it’s harder to play the drums slow and match the rhythm of the vocalist. On Dayburner the drummer Dario Casabona does an excellent job of maintain synchronicity with Cristina’s vocals, Frank Tudisco’s bass also Francesco Bauso and Orlando’s guitars. Dayburner is nothing short of a team effort, every second supplied with undivided attention and compassion. 

Unhinged experiences (Demons of the séance):

• ”Waterdawn”
• ”Dayburner”
• ”Orphic”
• ”Vespertine”
• ”Lunar Grave”