Arson Charge – A Dying Light
Release Date: 3rd October 2025
Label: Anxious & Angry
Bandcamp
Genre: Hardcore, Thrash, Metalcore, Punk.
FFO: Mastodon, In Flames, Sepultura, Gojira, Black Flag.
Review By: David Bryce
A Dying Light is the debut album from Arson Charge, an amalgamation of members of bands from Denver, Colorado’s prolific metal scene. While this is the first official release from the band, they are already well established throughout the region, and seem set to explode out with the release of A Dying Light.
For a debut release, the production on A Dying Light stands out as really top tier. Throughout the variety of tracks, all elements of the band sound lush and wide-ranging. Sonically, the majority of the album is focused on core elements of vocals, guitars, bass and drums, where the songwriting and mix does a great job of showing how you don’t need layers and layers of effects to fill out the sound. Although, when Arson Charge do dip into glitchy electronic or atmospheric sections, it feels complementary rather than just padding.
Contrary to the above statement, on first listen the opening track, The Feeding Ground, did stick out like a bit of a sore thumb, however through multiple listens, the atmosphere it brings does feel cohesive with the rest of the album. For the Damned is a furious introduction and does well to encapsulate one side of the sound of Arson Charge; a mix of frenetic drums and thrashy riffs, glazed with thick grooves throughout its four-minute run time. The vocals add a real heaviness both vocally and lyrically, resulting in a genuinely weighty feel to the song. Cleanup on Aisle 10, 666 BC, The Aftermath and Build a fire continue to lean into this thickness and have levels of sludgy grooves in sections that just keep you nodding along. The guitar work throughout these songs is engaging with nods to the likes of Mastodon, Killswitch Engage, Gojira and modern day Cave In, but with a consistent style that makes you feel like Arson Charge are really crafting something of their own.
The flip side of this album is where the punk and hardcore influences really come through. One by One, There Was No Dog, The Lark The Wolf and The Rabbit and Bloodstains, really up the tempo and there is a nice mix of angry hardcore, with punk rock which, at times, can feel uplifting and euphoric. Where the punk elements come through mixed with the thrashy guitars, you really get a feel of the influence of bands like Propagandhi or Black Flag.
Really interesting moments come out during A New Throne. Through it, we get the first call back to the glitchy electronics from the intro, and the song builds out with vocal and guitar elements that feel fresh and unique amongst the other tracks on the album. Closing track, A Dying Light is a delightful song to finish on and sonically has a natural concluding feel. The only criticism with this song is that they didn’t go further in the direction of the first minute and a half and decided to return to the heavy, thrashy, groovy formula from preceding tracks – but that is a minor gripe.
A Dying Light is a really impressive debut which is sure to break the band out of their local scene. Full of riffs, pounding drums and gritty vocals that twists and turns from track to tack and leaves you wanting to dip back into sections to find the real stand out sections of music, which are plentiful throughout.
(4 / 5)
