Daylight Dies was formed in 1996 by Barre Gambling and Jesse Haff. In 1999, the two recorded the band's first demo, The Long Forgotten Demo. In 2000, Guthrie Iddings joined the band as the vocalist and the trio recorded the band's second demo, Idle, which was released through Tribunal Records. In 2001, Egan O'Rourke joined as the bassist and the band recorded a two-song demo that was meant for record labels only. In late 2001, they signed with Relapse Records.
In 2002, Daylight Dies released their debut studio album, No Reply. Afterwards the band toured Europe with Katatonia and the United States and Canada with Lacuna Coil in support of the album. After the tour, vocalist Guthrie Iddings left the band to pursue a career and was replaced by Nathan Ellis. Charley Shackelford also joined as a second guitarist. In November 2005, Daylight Dies signed with Candlelight Records and released their second studio album Dismantling Devotion in March 2006.
On July 13 and 14, 2006, Daylight Dies performed as main support for Emperor in New York City. The band premiered their first music video for the song "Lies That Bind" on August 9, 2006. Between October 20 and November 19, 2006 they embarked on their first full North American tour in support of Dismantling Devotion together with Portugal's Moonspell and Sweden's Katatonia.
Daylight Dies entered the studio in December 2007 to begin recording their third album Lost to the Living. Like Dismantling Devotion, the album was mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios. After the album's release in 2008, the band supported it with two North American tours—one with Candlemass and another with Soilwork, Darkane and Swallow the Sun.
The band recorded their fourth full-length album in late 2011, entitled A Frail Becoming. The album was again mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios and was released by Candlelight Records in 2012.
