Dawnbreaker
Dawnbreaker is an extreme metal project that originated in New York, USA, and is now located in the Netherlands.
The project's influences include black metal, death metal, symphonic black metal, dark synth, some post metal, and even deathcore.
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Dawnbreaker - Deus Vult (2018)
01. Vileness Exalted
02. To Jerusalem
03. Dawnbreaker
04. Burnt Offerings
05. Deus Vult
06. Armor Of Light
07. ReChristianize
The debut release by Dawnbreaker, first released on Cullen Toner's label 'New Templar Records', and reissued the following year on 'Christian Metal Underground Records'.
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Dawnbreaker - Total Depravity (2019)
01. Man Of War
04. Secrets Of Enoch
05. Waterless Places
06. The Dark Tower
07. Exordium
10. Ruins Of Babylon
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Dawnbreaker - Vanquished Horrible Night (2020)
02. Evil's Bane
06. Plague Hunters
08. A Martyr's Glory
It's heavy, but atmospheric; melodic, cinematic and symphonic.
It reminds me of the Blackened Forest demo I put out a couple years ago (as of this posting, nearly three years ago).
The album has three instrumental tracks (1, 6, and 10). It starts with a "riding a horse on a stormy night" string ensemble and ends with a spooky dark synth keyboard piece befitting of it's October 31st release date.
The album gives a nod to Dimmu Borgir in style, as well as with some of the song titles (tracks 4 and 5, for example).
Oh, and on top of all that, track one also has CLEAN VOCALS.
The last time I remember liking an album this much was when I heard "In The Shadow Of A Thousand Suns" by Abigail Williams.
Honestly, this album is amazing! The fact that it's straight up Christian themed makes it even better, and honestly there needs to be more Christian bands like this. I know we have Grave Declaration and Divine Symphony, but we need more bands that take that "cinematic" approach.
The album can be purchased at the link below.
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Dawnbreaker - Ad Majorem Del Glorium (2021)
05. Light Warriors
06. Holy Grail
08. I Never Knew You
Recorded in the same low tuning as "Deus Vult", and features symphonic elements as well.
The following review is my take. Different people get different things out of music. My take may not be someone else's take, and that's totally fine.
Some songs were harder to process than others.
For me it depends on how the style comes off to me, and how I could best describe it while comparing it to something I've heard before.
This is harder to do with certain songs. and relatively easy with others.
For now, this is the review. I may add some stuff to the shorter song reviews if something pops into my head, maybe...
Tracks 6 and 7 were slightly harder for me to say things about. I'm not sure why. I remember I was metaphorically on fire when I wrote the reviews for tracks 1-5 and 8. I got lost on 6 and 7 even though I like them a lot.
Anywho, on to the review itself....
Track one is the longest on the album, clocking in at over seven minutes. It features a string intro with someone drums, playing sort of a "processionary" beat.
In this song we hear technical tremelo picking (which is a signature sound) and blast beats with a steady rhythm guitar. The song also has quite a bit of "chug riffing" (think "On My Side" by Demon Hunter, but slower).
All of this is accompanied by some string backings, placed here and there.
There's this part like 3/4 of the way through that goes crazy with the chugging guitar riffs. The strings add a more awkwardly haunting feel, versus the Castlevania vibes from "Vanquished Horrible Night".
The song goes silent for a second after the chug section, and then a voice breaks the silence, which is followed by another brief pause before breaking into a "black metal wail" line.
The song ends with a nice string outro, and that would be my one complaint about this song. The outro doesn't fade out or end, it just cuts off.
Track two is insane! It opens with technical picking, and goes into
A steady deep guitar section with blast beats. It is very reminiscent of "Vileness Exalted" from "Deus Vult".
The song also features a chug section with strings, and a short deathcore sweep licking section.
Track three is by far the most awkward. It features Brain Gawaski (the guy who did the singing part on "Evil's Bane" last year) on lead vocals. The song seems to be a combining blackened death metal with heavy and power metal. There are some symphonic interludes after each vocal section, and even a short harpsichord line (which fades in and then out).
Towards the end we hear a screaming section which features a guy named Shawn Eldridge on backing vocals. The three (Toner, Gawaski, and Eldridge) are old friends.
The chorus and the part after it are erie! I fact, if I had to describe this song in one word, it'd be ERIE. The uncommon fusion of genres (black metal, death metal, heavy metal and power metal) combined with Gawaski's vocal style made for a very haunting combination.
To summarize, it's almost like the band Haunt, but HEAVIER.
Track four is my song on the album. It is the most reminiscent of last year's "Vanquished Horrible Night".
It begins with an intro reminiscent of "Change Of Heart" by Grave Declaration, including a wonderful string arrangement and guitar solo, before moving into the first verse, which is straight up symphonic black metal (followed by more technical picking).
The slower parts go very well with the symphonics, and let the listener really feel the heavy aspect of this song.
It should be noted that this song features more symphonic elements than it's predecessors.
Track five is fully instrumental, and clocks in at just under 1:30. It features a piano intro before being joined by some high octave strings, which are followed by some lower octave strings.
After which we hear a string section with some choirs (I think) and a high note piano piece played along with it.
The song ends with an abrupt slam of multiple keys.
Track six has a sort of "epic black metal" feel to it. I picture that sort of "epic fantasy, situation for some reason. Maybe it's the keys, maybe it's the melodic notes, maybe it's the way the riffs are in the verses, maybe it's the fact that the song is about a quest/journey.
The intro features another amazing string arrangement, with consistent blast beats (both staples of sbm).
The intro is followed by some "steady chug" riffs (not the deathcore kind, but kind of "heavy/power metal-ish" sounding), which serves as the music for the main verses. Kind of towards the end there's a kind of "technical chug" riff section that surprisingly fits quite well.
Track seven begins in a sort of "groovy" (weird way to put it, I know) fashion, with some piano leading into the guitar intro.
As far as elements go, it is melodic, technical, and symphonic. The rhythm guitar notes in some parts of this song are more mismatched than the other songs (mismatched may be the wrong word; they sound different though).
For some reason I get "blackened deathcore" vibes from this one even though it doesn't have any prominent core elements. Abigail Williams's first full length album, "In The Shadow Of A Thousand Suns", had a similar feel/sound/style to it.
Track eight takes things to the blackened death/doom side of metal.
It's slow and heavy. The symphonic backings accompany this style very well, in my opinion.
Near the end there's a reverberating guitar solo that works well with the overall feel of the song, followed by another solo (no reverb), which is joined by some choirs. The song closes with a final note that fades out.
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