Before the Dawn is one of those bands that really managed to find their own enclave in the Finnish music scene. Even though they easily can be identified as a Finnish act due to the guitar harmonies, vocal lines and the melancholic overall sound, they have in fact something special in their music that makes them different from the often-heard, more or less big names in Finnish music.

Actually, the music itself can be categorized as heavy yet atmospheric Melodic Dark Metal, mixing elements of Gothic, Swedish MeloDeath, Heavy Rock and Pop in interesting ways. There hasn't been any bad album by Before the Dawn so far, and "Deadlight" is a good one, too. In direct comparison to the earliest ones it is of course apparent that a better clean male voice rises within some of the songs: the former second vocalist Panu Willman (Ex-Entwine) has been replaced by the Norwegian tenor Lars Eikind, already on "Ghost" (2006). This guy has a technically very impressing voice, yet it luckily is used rather as one element among others in the band sound. Since Lars sings really high, putting his vocals in a spheric way rather in the background just to make some of the epic melody lines unfold, surely was a good choice by band leader Tuomas Saukkonen (Guitar/Drums/Synths/Growls). Even though Lars sings very well, this sort of vocals still easily can annoy me since they sound just as heroic and dramatic as some Power Metal vocalists do. Generally, "Deadlight" is way more aggressive and partly much faster than former BTD releases. In a certain stylistic frame, this album offers a lot of dynamics: Fast MeloDeath tracks like "Wrath" and "Faithless", that even should attract lovers of Gothenburg Metal (In Flames, Dark Tranquillity), stand right next to atmospheric, mellow ones like "Morning Sun" and the in Finland very succesful single-hit "Deadsong". Unfortunately there are fillers, too, namely "Guardian" and "Fear me".

Still, Before the Dawn defend their status once more and for fans of melodic, atmospheric, yet heavy and aggressive tunes, this surely is the right band to listen to. Once I read in a review that BTD sound like a catchy Dark Metal combo with Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity) and Jonas Renkse (Katatonia) sharing the vocal duties. Well, if at all, Before the Dawn's music certainly is closer to the Melodic Death Metal leading force from Gothenburg, but in some ways the comparison fits very well to illustrate the scale of what this band offers. Right after Entwine, Before the Dawn definitely is the second best band from the cosy South Finnish town Lahti! Good band with constantly good albums.

 

7,5 / 10

 

Hendrik Behnisch