BEFORE THE DAWN – “RISE OF THE PHOENIX”

August 15th, 2012 by Yiannis

BEFORE THE DAWN – “RISE OF THE PHOENIX”
NUCLEAR BLAST (2012)

Metal Church - The Present Wasteland

Before The Dawn is a thirteen year old band which has always ended up falling beneath my radar somehow, even though a close friend of mine has prompted me many times over the years to give them a chance. It was the same friend who informed me that the band’s latest studio album “Rise Of The Phoenix” was, much to his personal disappointment, the product of a different line up and that the combination of clear and brutal vocals which characterised the band’s earliest work was a thing of the past. Feeling intrigued, I decided to give this nine track release a listen. The result?

There are two bands whose works can be described as having massively influenced the music of Before The Dawn. From their fellow-countrymen Amorphis, this Finnish quartet has borrowed an amazing sense of melody, while from their neighbouring Swedes Dark Tranquillity – both the sound and the need to build their compositions upon up-tempo rhythmical riffs. The average duration of the songs is no more than four minutes and the fact that they all feature really catchy melodic themes I sure to impress quite early on – this being the positive thing about the album. On a slightly negative note, however, after a few more spins you will probably feel like you have been listening to variations of the same song, with only a handful of compositions offering something slightly different.

The one and a half minute instrumental piece “Exordium” provides a nice atmospheric introduction and is followed by the heavy riffed “Pitch-Black Universe” – a truly enjoyable track. There may not be much separating songs like “Phoenix Rising” and “Cross To Bear”, however they are both quite enjoyable, but it is really the head banging riffs and atmospheric background orchestrations of “Throne Of Ice” that stand out as the highlights of the first part of the album. The second part consists of more songs of the Amorphis-meets-Dark Tranquillity formula such as “Perfect Storm” and “Fallen World”, but it just so happens to also hold an ace up its sleeve, the five and a half minute “Eclipse”. This is the first time on this album that a song offers real musical variety and together with the closing melodies of the highly-emotional “Closure”, they promise better things to come.

I am not quite sure what the band’s long term fans will make of this album, whether they will be disappointed like my good friend or be impressed by its honesty and quality of execution, but for people like me who are only now being introduced to the Finnish quartet, “Rise Of The Phoenix” is both an enjoyable offering and a good starting point. It may not be the most innovative melodic Death Metal release that I have ever come across but, when in the mood for such music, I am sure that it will fully entertain me. Now, let’s see what their past releases are all about!

John Stefanis

Rating: ***1/2 (3.5/5.0)

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 20 October 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 22 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
RIOGHAN Hands (Inverse Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)