Review: Luke Petty
Prepare for an album that breathes shadow and atmosphere. On their sixth offering, Creature In The Black Night, Dayseeker unveils a sound that is chillingly cinematic and seductively dark. This album marks Dayseeker’s most assured and polished evolution yet, doubling down on the compelling Alternative Metal and Synth-Pop fusion they introduced on Sleeptalk (2019). The sound is now more confident and less weighed down, delivering their signature style with sharp, self-assured focus. I think fans will be divided on this release.
“Pale Moonlight” serves as the perfect curtain-raiser, immediately pulling listeners into a world of introspective sorrow. It’s built around a hauntingly memorable hook, specifically the line, “dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight.” This instantly quotable lyric has all the makings of a future live staple, practically guaranteeing a massive sing-along moment for fans at this year’s Good Things Festival.
The momentum builds sharply with the title track “Creature In The Black Night,” a track that offers a much-needed spike in energy and tempo. It carries the echo of Linkin Park’s experimental A Thousand Suns era, blending electronic textures with a refreshingly riff-heavy core. This enjoyable detour may raise a few eyebrows among older fans, but it ultimately proves Dayseeker’s versatility and command of varied dynamics.
Driving the album’s thematic obsession with identity and darkness, “Shapeshift” serves up a dense blend of textures. It shifts seamlessly between electro–new wave grooves and unexpected bursts of metallic aggression. The core of the song features a synth-heavy guitar backing from Gino Sgambelluri and Ramone Valerio, propelled by Zac Mayfield’s powerful drumming. The enduring strength of the track, however, lies in its lyrical imagery of transformation and decay, leaving a haunting refrain that confirms Dayseeker’s emotional depth runs far beyond the instrumentation.
The album’s pace slows for “Soulburn,” a track that finds melodic fire meeting surgical lyrical precision. Despite its measured tempo, Rory Rodriguez spits pure venom, most chillingly in the line, “And when you say goodbye to all you’ve lost, I’ll be there so I can watch your soul burn alive.” This converts heartache into a haunting, unforgettable harmony. Meanwhile, “Bloodlust” immediately shifts the mood. While appearing on the surface as a sultry, vampiric anthem, its deeper storytelling reveals a focus on shedding inhibition and surrendering to inner darkness. The track conjures dramatic midnight imagery of graveyard rendezvous, fully embracing the album’s shadowed aesthetic.
“Cemetery Blues” acts as an emotional anchor, providing the most recognizable Dayseeker sound despite its dark subject matter, featuring poignant, familiar lamentations like, “The afterlife is colder than they told me it would be.” The band then delivers a masterclass in tragic poetry with “Nocturnal Remedy,” built around a magnetic, inescapable chorus. The song serves as a showcase for Rodriguez, whose flawless balance of powerful screams and clean vocals maximizes the lyrical weight.
Following the intensity, “The Living Dead” intentionally slows the allure, embracing a deeply sorrowful pace — unflinching in vulnerability and hauntingly beautiful. Energy is restored near the close by “Meet The Reaper,” which expertly weaves the album’s death-tinged imagery into a tense narrative of longing and surrender, highlighted by the self-aware lyric, “I’m addicted to the siren song, it’s a dull sound, drowning me out.”
“Forgotten Ghost” concludes the journey not with cathartic aggression, but with a tender, heart-wrenching sense of grief and regret. This soft ending is arguably the album’s most mature choice, leaving the listener wanting more while accepting the finality of its themes — that life is temporary and promises are illusions.
With Creature In The Black Night, Dayseeker has conclusively shed their post-hardcore roots, evolving into a darker, highly sophisticated band. Their ability to craft lyrics with raw, sincere emotion alongside seductive, genre-defying melody confirms their standing as artists whose heart and precision transcend stylistic boundaries. Overall, it’s a powerful listen. These guys are definitely bound for bigger things — and we can’t wait to see them blast out some of these tracks at this year’s Good Things Festival.
CREATURE IN THE BLACK NIGHT – OUT OCTOBER 24
https://Dayseeker.lnk.to/
