I have noticed of late that Vancouver has started to pump out a number of great new Canadian rock bands and Art of Dying is no exception. Their twelve song self-titled album is packed full of energetic, melodic, guitar driven, rock songs. 

There are five members that make up Art of Dying. Jonny Hetherington is the man behind the raw and powerful lead vocals. On the tenacious, hard driven guitars there is two men behind the sounds and they are Chris Witoski and Greg Bradley. Playing the pulsating Bass there is Matt Rhode rhythm. The sound of the diversified pounding drums it is Flavio Cirillo. 

“Get Through This” is the first song on the album and easily a walk away hit for the band. This song has already been getting commercial exposure. The song is the theme song of the CBC hockey reality show “Making The Cut”. I don’t think CBC could have picked a better song to be the theme song. The lyrics are easily taken from life lesson/experience 101because everybody has thought and has gone through situation where you have said these lyrics. Not only do the lyrics make the song but the finely polished sound of the vocals and instruments brings this song to its full potential. The engineering in the sound studio is excellent because the vocals are mixed in just right. They blend in at the same volume with the guitars and drums and don’t get overshadowed. 

“If I can get though this 
I can get through anything 
If I can make it through this 
I can get through anything 
I promise you” 

“ I will be there” could be another commercially viable song for the band. The song would fit great in the High School/ College Drama shows. The song is a melodramatic medium tempo rock/pop song that is usually heard on these types of T.V shows. Again the lyrics that the band has used are a reason behind this thought. 

“I will be there to watch you grow 
To let you know somebody cares 
I will be there to love you whole 
When nothing works and no one cares 
I will be there”

Track 12 “Dog Is My Copilot” I think I would have left this track off of the album. Maybe just kept the song as a bonus download on their band homepage. It doesn’t go with any of the other songs on the album. It is a slow tempo solo acoustic track. It is alright until around the four minute mark, this is when the song should have finished off. The vocals and the guitar go into a higher pitch. The last minute of the song is pretty much just yelling/screaming over the guitar. The vocals reminds me of Kurt Cobain when he would really let loose with his vocals at the end of a concert. 

www.artofdying.com
www.myspace.com/theartofdying

Matt Hartwick
m.hartwick@partyinkingston.com