For those that do not know, Poisonblack is a Finnish band with guitarist and now singer Ville Laihiala at the controls. Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto from Charon was the singer on their first album, Escapexstacy, but departed shortly after its release. Laihiala took over the vocal duties and has since moved Poisonblack in a direction that closely resembles that of dark metal legends Sentenced, his former band.

A Dead Heavy Day breaks things wide open from the start with a more traditional metal vibe, after the instrumental intro Introuder, with Diane. The guitars are tuned down much like their previous album Lust Stained Despair giving it a more “modern” sound. Laihiala, with his scruffy Heitfield-esque vocals helps with the aggression of the song. Left Behind and Bear The Cross are two of the better songs on the album mixing in some atmospheric keyboards. Both of these songs, stylistically, would have fit nicely on Crimson or The Cold White Light. The title track is the best song on the album and the best example of gothic metal, as Poisonblack is usually labeled, in this collection.

There are a couple things that prevent A Dead Heavy Day from being a great album for me. The seventh track, X, with its semi-bluesy, balladry approach is a speed bump that interrupts the flow of the album. It would have fit better at the end or just left off completely. Also, the lyrics of the album seem to have been contrived to attract a younger nu-metal audience through the blatant use of offensive language. I can drop the f-bomb with the best of them but it all seems unnecessarily used on this album.

Over all the album is a good listen and the production of the album is top notch. If you are a fan of the previous Poisonblack releases or a fan of later day Sentenced then you would more than likely enjoy A Dead Heavy Day.

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