"Day Six are a progressive metal band, and "The Grand Design" certainly delivers progressive metal.
But we ar not dealing with the flamboyant sort of progressive metal associated with the likes of Dream Theater. Day Six are progressive in that they experiment with the juxtaposition of various different moods through combination of soft and heavy parts and generally make use of complex song structures without their music ever being complicated. They also draw on the psechedelia of the progressive rock of the 70s in a fashion that reminds me a bit of Alrune Rod.
This results in a dark and slightly pyschedelic type of heavy but catchy mushc which one can easily lose oneself in. Thus, I think that "The Grand Design" has something in common with Psychotic Waltz, Thine and Opeth (minus the death metal elements, of course), all of whom also draw on the darker types of psychedelic progressive rock.
In addition to these elements there are some heavy and groovy guitar riffs and a lot of clean guitar parts with atmospheric keyboards, and there is even some midnight sax on "Lost Identity" which works brilliantly. In addition, the bans also seems to draw a bit on the alternative rock and metal of the 90s, as there are some solos that sound inspired by Tom Morello and riffs that sound inspired by Alice in Chains.
This sounds like a mishmash doomed to fail; actually my original review of this album on heavymetal.dk got a comment from a user who argued that "The Grand Design" just sounds like a long messy jam session with no structure at all. That's not my experience of this album. I think that all of these elements really add up well together, the the result is a dark type of progressive metal which fans of early Psychotic Waltz, I think, would appreciate.
Recommended to fans of progressive metal, gothic metal, and 70s progressive rock.
(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com, based on a Danish version posted on heavymetal.dk)"
