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Linkin Park's frontman Chester Bennington is releasing a side project under the name Dead by Sunrise on October 13th titled Out of the Ashes. Songs for the album underwent writing back in 2005. Bennington loved the songs but felt they weren't Linkin Park material. Out of Ashes is much more hard hitting than Linkin Park's tracks which appeal to both mainstream and rock formats and drives deeper into a moodier more dark album.
While most songs were originally written on an acoustic guitar, Bennington transformed most of the songs for Dead by Sunrise into emotionally deadly tracks that throttle speakers and draw feelings on intense anger, depression and a sense of disconnection. The lead single "Crawl Back In" chronicles Bennington's problems in the past with alcohol singing "I don't want to take your medicine/ I want to crawl back in" with powerful screams. The single has so far peaked at No. 22 on the Mainstream Rock Billboard chart.
The theme of the album seems to tie in well with the name of Bennington's side band. Dead by Sunrise was what he used to think could happen during his partying phase that was quite self-destructive and the album name Out of the Ashes is the coming out of that path. He indulges into a world full of corruption as well that could easily put pressure on his self destructive path in songs like "End of the World." The song describes the tragedies seen on TV, having high gas prices and not being able to pay rent. "You can run away from anything/ Until you open your eyes." As he's ripping through each part of the song, the major difference between Dead by Sunrise and Linkin Park is the added synthesizer layers.
Though a lot of the record is filled with snarling guitars and powerful vocals, "Into You" still has some edge but shows a more hopeful side as he has someone there shining a light in order for him to see what's going on around him. The soft side shows up in the closing track "In the Darkness" as well with a hypnotic drum progression. Singing "In the darkness/ My heart aches at the sight of you/ Trembles and quakes when inside of you/ In the darkness," he's giving all he can to this one person, all they want is all he has. The closeout song stands out as a track to be heard.
Another standout track is "Give Me Your Name," with a sweet guitar bending riff opening the song against a hopeful dreary minor key. He's asking for someone's love, someone to come close and they're making it easy for him to feel the love between them. There's no harsh vocals or ear throttling guitars. Turn on "Condemned" and the story changes where he begins to plunge into a fierce destruction and can't make up his mind if he's happy or in misery but makes it almost apparent when he begins to wail and almost scream his way into a hard guitar solo.
Dead by Sunrise's album Out of the Ashes is a solid built record that chronicles the life of a former alcoholic destroying himself and somehow is saved from all the wrong that swirls around him. Bennington's side project is no Linkin Park, but shows his artistry outside of the band and if given the chance, can be a major success for him.
