Dawn of Ashes
Daemonolatry Gnosis
(Metropolis Records)
After seven years of various metallic efforts, Kristof Bathory and the gang have finally done it. They have finally crafted what is in my eyes, a near-perfect metal release. Interestingly enough, Dawn Of Ashes fans (and foes) might be surprised by the lack of industrial or electronic elements in this one as the band have taken that of a true symphonic death metal approach, orchestration and all. It is very much in the same category as that of current SepticFlesh or Fleshgod Apocalypse and manages to invoke a familiar sense of dark esoteric mysticism perfectly. From listening to this, you would never even guess that they were once an Aggrotech act, nor that they had ever fooled around with deathcore or black/industrial. At this point it is obvious that Dawn Of Ashes will perform any kind of style that they feel like performing – we may very well get a gothic doom album after this one. I guess the band felt that the style they had been working towards with Theophany just wasn’t working as well as they had expected, hence the necessary uncaging of this beast. What’s more, is this that record is nearly a full-hour in length and legitimately feels complete. I really feel that this will be the band’s most celebrated effort after Genocide Chapters which is the only LP that Metal Archives has covered despite the fact that two others released directly after. It’s also odd for a Goth/Industrial label like Metropolis, as this is unmistakably a full-on death metal onslaught.
When I put this record into my ears, I thought of acts like modern-era Dimmu Borgir, early to mid-era Graveworm, Behemoth, Cradle Of Filth (not on the vocal end though) and even classic Morbid Angel in the compositions. It seems that former Motionless In White drummer Brandon Rage was in a hurry to crank out some real death metal music which might explain the reason for him pounding the kit to death in some areas. These efforts really allow for that necessary steel backbone that feels like the alchemic effort of lead becoming gold. It’s this kind of approach to drumming that really makes the disc thump, even though it still has quite a bit of necessary pomp (which I will not turn away, this record sounds like a veritable symphony) which can sometimes be a bit overbearing, even though I think that is the point. At least we are fortunate enough to hear Raum’s melodic leads and what I would consider to be “glorified background solos” in several of these pieces and that’s a welcome addition compared to other synth-death acts that feel like they’ve almost completely forgotten about the guitars. That being said, I don’t feel that Raum is given as much time on the record as he deserves and Bathory/Behemoth’s synths do tend to hog the record a little bit. Though at the end of the day, as long as we are getting to hear a couple of memorable leads or solos on the disc, I suppose that I can’t make too much of a fuss about it.
It is also worth mentioning that not every song sounds the same here, most notably “I Am Nephilim” being a major standout. Out of the other tracks here, this one seems to mimic Genocide Chapters the most and almost feels like it skipped the symphonic death metal formula that had been commonplace throughout most of the album. If you want me to be honest, it feels like a cast-off from said album and may have found it’s way on here to appeal to those fans. It’s also the only cut with an absurd number of breakdowns. Following that, we have “Rulership Of The Inner World” which actually begins with a bit of keyboard influence before it goes into synth-death territory. We also have an interesting idea for an interlude here, as “The Ritual” actually features some semblance of harsh vocal. I’m really not sure if that was a good idea or not, as it sort of breaks the mood a little, but I wasn’t crazy with vocal lines during the solos sections either, because they often took away from Raum. Noting that, I also have to mention the fierce change apparent in the symphonic black metal meets Goth number (which technically closes the album) entitled “Magick For The New Aeon.” Crowley wasn’t available for comment, but I’m sure he would have winked a bit at that title. In any case, the track also features Lindsay Schoolcraft of Cradle Of Filth providing clean backup vocals. She mainly states, “It’s time to find the magic you left behind” which comes across quite beautifully in tone and hopefully doesn’t frighten away some listeners – because God forbid, there are female vocals on a death metal record in 2017.
Included as what I would consider to be a bonus track, is a strange cover of Mayhem’s “Freezing Moon.” I’ve always loved this one, of course – it’s a classic. But something about it feels a bit different. I’m going to let that slide though, because it’s the only track where Raum is actually given a chance to solo without vocal interruption. I’ll definitely have to put my foot in my mouth this time, Bathory – you definitely slaughtered the vocal end on this album, though maybe it’s just a tad bit overboard. It honestly feels to me like these guys have been trying to prove themselves for several years now and unfortunately hit several bumps along the way during that process. First came the nearly solo effort Anathema (which I still feel is a criminally underappreciated record) and then the slightly under-cooked Theophany leading up to this, which came at me like an unforeseen sucker punch and more or less a counter-argument to some of the banter I rabbled on about in the last review. It almost feels like he’s saying, “I’ll show you, Grim Lord! I’ll show you!” and to be honest, he did. The whole band did. They stepped up and delivered a shock that will be heard around the world. I honestly can’t see why this one would not put them back on the map in some regard and hope that they have enough advertising power behind them to get the word out in our online world of twelve-second attention spans. After all, Alan Moore stated in his documentary that the truest form of magic he had ever witnessed was that of advertising – how you could convince millions of people across the world that they all wanted the same thing at the same time. Let’s just hope that this is the kind of magic that barrels Dawn Of Ashes back into a level of commercial success. This disc is certainly worth of it.
