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Dark at Dawn is the kind of name that
immediately points you in the direction of gothic metal. Not the
kind with frail female singers, but the kind of metal that you
expect from Finland. Their repertoire is strong, with a dark feel
and shady lyrics, performed by a hoarse, but good, male singer. The
band comes from neighbouring Germany (which reminds me of the band
Crematory ). In their biography, their style is described as dark
romantic power metal. I was worried that they’d be another
Helloween/Gamma Ray clone, like so many are, but even with that
description, they’re completely not.
These guys are not just starting out.
The band has existed since 1993, when they were then with five
musicians. After two demos, they came out with a mini CD, “Oceans
of Time”
(1995), that helped them land lots of
concerts, airplay on the radio (!!) and a first time Wacken Open Air
Festival. At the end of 1999, the time was ready for their first
full length CD, “Baneful Skies”. They took the summer festivals of
2000 by storm and, in 2000, came out with a second CD, “Crimson
Frost”.
New material was written thereafter
and after numerous negotiations, “Of Decay and Desire” was released
on AFN Records. Andy Classen gave the album a lush mix and Mika
Jussila took care of the mastering, which was done in the Finnish
studio, Finnvox. We knew that this was going to turn out well
because the Portuguese band, Desire, also recorded there and came
out with a fantastic product. Even though a comparable level with
Desire wasn’t reached, what these Germans have to offer will please
many.
“The Sleepwalker” and “Warriorqueen”
are pleasurable, up beat songs, with it’s flashy guitar work
constantly on the heals of the singer, Buddy (whose name is actually
Thorsten- spelled with the letter h. This is to help avoid
confusion with the brain behind the band whose name is also
Torsten). “Luna” is one of those songs where you hold up your
flickering lighter. Buddy is assisted by female singer, Anissa, who
shows up in a few other songs. Her voice fits well, she’s no
yodelling diva. There’s excellent bass and drum work in “Maid of
Stone”, where the lyrics easily cut through the core of the song.
The whole album is exciting, although, I must admit that, after
awhile, Buddy’s voice starts sounding a bit mono-tone. But this is
the only negative point (and that’s not to say that they should
inject more female vocals!). Overall, the album is just fine.
“Forever” is the most accessible song, with a chorus that sticks
with you and with a cool keyboard melody. Gosh, the whole CD just
sounds good without being a world shocker. |
