This Day Forward

This US metalcore band originated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during 1997 when Mike Shaw handled vocals alongside his brother Gary Shaw on bass, with Randy Wehrs and Mike Golen both on guitar plus Colin Frangicetto behind the drums. After cultivating a local following throughout Pennsylvania, the group put out Fragments Of An Untold Story Born By Shunning The Opportunity in 1999, an effort whose raw blend of metalcore and screamo delivered forceful impact despite its unpolished edges. Signing with the larger Eulogy Recordings label resulted in the more refined The Transient Effects Of Light On Water, though the group’s fondness for elaborate album titles remained unchanged.

Vadim Taver stepped in for Wehrs ahead of the subsequent Kairos EP, where the band began softening its harsher screamo elements through sections of clean vocals. By late 2002 a deal with Equal Vision had been secured, coinciding with Brendan Ekstrom taking Golen’s place on guitar. In Response arrived the next year and expanded the shift toward standard song structures first explored on Kairos, earning approval from mainstream reviewers while alienating some longtime supporters. The record marked This Day Forward’s last output, as the group disbanded amid tension in late 2003. Frangicetto and Ekstrom later became members of the post-hardcore outfit Circa Survive.