Ontario metalcore five-piece Dead and Divine made some noise in 2005 when their independent EP, What Really Happened at Lover’s Lane, broke the Billboard Top 200. This Saturday, Sept. 12, they’ll be in Winnipeg supporting the release of their second full-length, The Machines We Are, with a show at the Roblin Park Community Centre. Musically, there’s nothing that sets this CD apart from, say, releases by the band’s Distort labelmates Architects and A Textbook Tragedy. If this CD has a strength, it’s the lyrics. “Humans as machines” is hardly a fresh metaphor, but for the most part, the 10 songs found here are an honest attempt by the band’s lyricist to navigate the world he knows; a world where you can’t help but question the things you were raised to believe, and where the things your friends do sometimes bewilder you.

Published in Volume 64, Number 2 of The Uniter (September 10, 2009)