Sick and Twisted Affair

The Toronto, Ont based modern rock band, My Darkest Days, try to avoid the dreaded sophomore jinx with their new nine track release, “Sick, Twisted Affair.” The band experienced a decent amount of airplay with their 2010 self titled release, with their hit single off of that release, “Porn Star Dancing,” featuring Zakk Wylde on guitar and Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger. In fact, Kroeger was very instrumental in getting this band off the ground; he loved them so much he signed them to his 604 Records imprint. In addition, Kroeger will be dragging out My Darkest Days on the upcoming Nickelback tour.

“Sick, Twisted Affair” was produced by Joey Moi, who is notorious for working on all the Nickelback releases and has worked with many multi-platinum artists such as Tim McGraw, Daughtry and Hinder. Unfortunately, this is a release that Mio may want to forget.

Although, there are a few memorable musical moments on this release, and the cover art is super cool, overall, this release just falls flat. The first single, “Casual Sex” comes across as creepy, corny and cringe worthy and the video is even worse. With the exception of the tracks, “Save Yourself” and maybe “Perfect,” this release is just plain vanilla filler. It reeks of a band trying too hard to be noticed, but doing the wrong things. For instance, the cheesy keyboards add nothing to the songs, it just water downs the sound of the band. Many of the songs would sound better sans the keyboards, and some cranked up distorted guitars instead. And speaking of guitars, were the hell are all the blistering solos? A good idea for the next one is to toughen it up a bit and have the lead guitarist actually play lead guitar, ok mates!

I had high hopes for this release, as the band showed a bit of potential on their last release. They had built up a good fan base, and had the Nickelback machine in their corner. I guess I thought that they may evolve, and dirty up their sound a bit with chops and heavy riffs on this release. And like I said before, the artwork on this CD is sinister and cool, but like they say, you can’t judge a book by its cover. That’s certainly the case with My Darkest Days. You may want to avoid this CD, but download the track, “Save Yourself.” That track should keep the band on the charts for a few months, after it’s released as a single.
-Thomas S. Orwat, Jr.

Matt Walst: lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Sal Coz Costa: lead guitar, vocals
Brendan McMillan: bass guitar
Doug Oliver: drums, percussion
Reid Henry: keyboard, vocals, rhythm guitar