Haste The Day: “Dissenter” Album Review

Fans have been waiting for over a decade for a new album from Indiana-based Haste The Day. They initially brought back new music at the end of 2024 with “Burn,” and at the beginning of this year they made the announcement that shook everyone. May 1st, we finally received a shiny new album called “Dissenter.” This album features Stephen Keech at vocals, Brennan Chaulk, Scott Whelan and Dave Krysl at guitars, Michael Murphy at bass and Giuseppe Capolupo at drums. They’ve crafted a different tone and vibe for this record, so we’re going to look at it as a standalone release compared to the rest of their discography. 

Dissenter Album Review

Tracks: 11

Length: 39:08

Release Date: May 1, 2026

Label: Solid State Records

The beginning of the record starts with “Cycles.” It kicks off with a post-apocalyptic sound, which we’ve heard on several albums in the last year. It feels a little bit overplayed at this point. But, the eerie use of electronics along with the guitar riffs helps bring about a solid and technical intro. The transition between “Cycles” and “Shallows” seems a little off. I didn’t anticipate the transition between the two songs, as the atmosphere on “Shallows” sounded lighter in comparison to the dark, brooding “Cycles.” The chorus has a great blend of clean vocals and guitar riffs. Stephen’s screams sound reminiscent of the previous releases and it was impressive to hear him hold notes for so long with his scream.

“Grave” offers a slower start, highlighted by clean vocals, before getting hit with the guitars and double bass. It offered something unique as Stephen drove the song with his clean approach with the appropriate scream from time to time. Then the bass line breakdown with the guitars gets you moving along. They slowed down the tempo and offered a reflective song. I appreciated that adjustment.

“I am only dreaming. But I feel the light slip beneath the veil. Open my eyes to see the sky is turning. The sky is turning red.”

These post-apocalyptic lyrics add to the overall concept of a person who is seeing a broken world and processing the next steps to confronting the system and moving into the unknown. JesusFreakHideout broke the album into three parts - Act 1: the realization of decay and control (“Cycles,” “Shallows,” “Grave”), Act 2: rage and collapse (“Burn,” “Liminal,” “Gnasher,” “Heretic”) and Act 3: escape and transcendence (“Escape,” “Adrift,” “Teeth,” “Oblivion”). Seeing this breakdown helped me to better understand the flow of the album.

“Burn” was the first single released by the band back in 2024 as a tease for more new music. The opening riff reminds me of early As I Lay Dying. The song starts slow but quickens as you progress through. The screams added to the tempo along with the guitars and drums. One of the things that I appreciate from this band is the great blend of cleans and screams and that includes their early material with Jimmy. They put out the blueprint of how to blend the two worlds in unity.

“I am nothing but an empty shell. Blinded by hate. Filled with memories I cannot erase and it’s cold there’s no escape.”

The lyrics follow with the theming of the album as this starts the second act dealing with rage towards a broken system. There are times when we feel angry about the things happening around us. That anger can drive our actions, sometimes leading us to say or do things we’ll later regret. It may seem like there’s no way out of that cycle, but there is an escape, which we will encounter later in this album. 

We move right into “Liminal.” This highly anticipated song features Garrett Russell from Silent Planet and the two vocal styles between Garrett and Stephen compliment each other well. This song has a bit of a punk feel to it, almost like I could see it featured on a Tony Hawk game. When a band writes new music, there are times that they want to experiment with their sound. They tried something new with the guitars and drums to drive that punk energy and it worked. It doesn’t sound like Haste The Day of old, but sometimes you have to try something new to evolve.

“Hanging on the promise of the past…Stuck in a liminal place. This world is liminal.”

The word liminal is defined as the space between boundaries. As we’re talking about dealing with anger and frustration, this is where we find ourselves. We find ourselves dealing with being stuck with what happened in the past and how to move forward when dealing with anger.

The transition from “Liminal” to “Gnasher” worked well and blended nicely. The aggression is top of the charts. It’s fast, aggressive and gets you tapping along. The double blast of the drums is infectious. There is a spot in the song where we would typically hear a blegh, but we get something different. It sounded similar to a “blegh,” but perhaps they’re trying to get something new started.

The transitions on some of these songs are so smooth. Going from “Gnasher” to “Heretic” is so seamless and after hearing the awkward transition between the first two songs, it’s nice to hear this issue rectified. The rhythm moving from the drums and guitars are smooth and kinetic. They drive the song and sound so easy. This song highly illustrates the band’s ability to play and shows why they are the legends that they are.

“Worship your wealth and power. Nurture your influence. Ignore your invitation. Murder the messenger…It’s not a god, it’s an idol. Open up your eyes. Your god is an idol. You’re worshipping lies.”

These lines are so powerful and impactful. The theme centers on a system that is built on wealth, power and deception. In these lines, they call out idol worship, suggesting people have forgotten the core teachings of simplicity and being a neighbor.

I didn’t even notice the transition as “Heretic” flowed into “Escape.” These transitions and blendings between songs have been so seamless that you don’t realize that you’re onto the next song until you realize something sounds different. Stephen, on top of being the vocalist, is the producer for this record. These effortless transitions give credit to Stephen’s hard work and devotion to making Dissenter sound incredible. Back to “Escape,” the tempo slows down in comparison to the earlier songs. Despite the calmer pace, the song is still heavy, but in a slower, more methodical way.

We’re moving into the third act of the album with “Escape” and now “Adrift.” This song feels introspective, as if it’s taking a moment for reflection and response. There are songs that you can have fun and jam out to, but it’s a great balance when a band also writes songs that give you the opportunity to reflect and ponder.

“Adrift. Will you bring me back again? To feel to the end where home is real?”

Through the journey that Haste The Day has crafted, we’ve gone through pain and anger and betrayal and now we’re experiencing the idea of hope and looking for safety and security.

Opening with both the thematic elements and faint choral singing, “Teeth” builds directly on these sounds. It leads into a brief drum solo before the bassline wakes up and sustains the rest of the song. The breakdown is heavy, but not maddening. It’s more of a technical heavy breakdown. The angelic choir ending reminds me of a similar opening to “Chorus of Angels” off of Pressure The Hinges.

We’re wrapping up the album with “Oblivion,” which was released earlier this year along with a music video. In the initial listen at the time of release, I felt that it was incomplete and that it was leading to something much bigger. Well, once you listen to the album in its entirety, it makes sense and completes both the song and the record. The song picks up tempo, after a string of slower songs. While it still has its moments, the driven passion is evident during the verses and breakdowns. The chorus slows down and allows everything to marinate together. The drums match the rhythm of Stephen’s screams.

“Where we will be. Strangers here at the end. Walking into oblivion. The veil is lifted away. You hear me ask you will you stay? Stay with me? Will you stay? Stay with me until the end. As we fade into the blue oblivion.”

After experiencing pain, anger and frustration, the main character starts to look for hope and finds a place to surrender. We experience life and eventually life can get too much for us to handle on our own and that’s when we make the decision to find someone to place our hope in and find ultimate surrender. Thankfully, Christians have that hope found in only the gospel of Jesus Christ, but it takes surrender to know that we give everything to Him.

Dissenter is Haste The Day’s first release in quite some time and for all those years off, it sounds like they’ve haven’t missed a step. Haste the Day brings back the sound that we’re accustomed to with the Stephen era of the band. They showed no rust while experimenting with new sounds, elements and theming. This album is great, but it feels like there is a piece that is missing that would put it at the top of the list. I liked the direction, both musically and the blend between the clean vocals and the screams show an ambition to create something new while maintaining the same sound that we come to expect from Haste The Day. If you grew up listening to When Everything Falls or Burning Bridges, you won’t hear Jimmy’s gritty vocals, but if you became a fan after that release, then yes, you need to add Dissenter to your collection. From the technical guitar chords to the sharp screams from Stephen to the post-apocalyptic atmosphere, this is still a great album and a great listen from start to finish.