#beforethedawn — Public Fediverse posts

Way back in the year before the Great Plague, I took a chance and reviewed an unheralded, self-released album by a one-man band from Belgium called Ethereal Darkness. We received the promo from the AMG contact forms without fanfare or fluff, but what I heard on Smoke and Shadows really impressed me. Project mastermind Lars created a monumental slab of melancholic, melodic doom in the vein of Insomnium, Rapture, and Before the Dawn, and the material had depth, power, and gravitas. It seemed like the work of a seasoned and polished group of musicians despite some rough edges. The years have drifted by since that review, and I’d all but given up Ethereal Darkness for dead. Imagine my surprise when Lars reached out recently to alert me to the pending release of his second album, Echoes. 6 years on, the solo project is now a full-fledged band ready to tour in support of their latest release. And what a large release it is! At 60 minutes, Echoes takes the style from the debut and goes way bigger, with much longer compositions and greater ambition in the writing. If that’s not big enough, it also features cover art from Adam Burke and a production from Dan “The Fücking Man” Swanö!1 Is bigger better in this case? Can more really be MOAR? And how are these guys still unsigned?? These are the questions of our time.

It takes ample ballsack to open with a nearly 11-minute song, but Ethereal Darkness do just that with “Gone With the Tide.” If the atmosphere on Smoke and Shadows impressed you, this will knock you into the next multiverse. It’s an epic, sweeping tableau of massive melodoom that holds nothing back as it transports you to majestic forests and towering mountains of snow and ice. It recalls the best works of Be’lakor and Black Sun Aeon, but there’s plenty of Insomnium in the DNA too. The guitarwork is phenomenal, full of sadboi trilling and doomy weight. The death vocals by Lars are very effective, the clean singing by acoustic guitarist Brecht hits the right way, and the lapses into blastbeating blackness are well-timed adrenaline spikes. This is a stupendous song and one of the best so far this year, and it goes by in a flash despite its girth. “The Cycle” continues to maintain the sky-high quality. It’s like a crazy mash-up of Eneferens and modern Amorphis, and you should pay big money for such a potent potable. It’s the kind of song you get lost in and lose track of time, and when you write songs in the 8-10 minute window, this is essential.

Elsewhere, “Winter” moves toward more blackened environs, channeling Saor and Nechochwen as epic soundscapes are raised and explored. The guitars here are beautifully rendered, and it’s another triumph for this unheralded project. Equally monolithic is “On the Edge of the Cliff,” where the music turns more aggressive and urgent, merging black and melodeath idioms adroitly for maximum impact. There’s an epic Viking metal energy here that makes you want to conquer and rule the weak, and it feels dangerously powerful. Despite so much magnificent opulence and aural decadence, there are some weaker moments. “IV” is very, very good and hints at my beloved Rapture, but it ends up feeling too long at 9:45, and trimming it by a few minutes would have helped. Ginormous closer “Realization” runs over 13 minutes, and despite good to great moments throughout, it’s undone by its sheer width and breadth. In its final minutes, I find it increasingly difficult to stay locked in and attentive. At just over 60 minutes, Echoes can be a daunting listen due to its density and length, but the reward is well worth the effort. I can’t find fault with the Swanö-ified production, as everything sounds lush, gorgeous, and heavy without being loud or oppressive.

Lars handles guitar, bass, keyboards, and harsh vocals, and to say he did an amazing job across the board doesn’t begin to cover it. There are some big, emotional moments here courtesy of his 6-string heroics, referencing the works of Tuomas Saukkonen without imitating. His deep death roars punctuate the music with force, and his blackened cackles and screams pierce through like lasers. His restrained use of keyboards should be a case study for other acts in the genre. They add atmosphere but rarely rise out of the distant background. Becht provides soothing acoustic guitar passages and clean vocals that deliver pathos and emotion. Peter’s drumming is a vast improvement over the programmed percussion from the debut, imbuing the material with vibrancy and weight. Applause all around for this crew!

Echoes is a bigger, better album than Smoke and Shadows in every way, with several tracks worthy of Song o’ the Year consideration. The album length and the bloat on a few tracks hold it back from even greater heights, but just barely. This is a sumptuous feast for the ears and mind, and I get the feeling I’ll be spending a lot of time with this over the next few months. Ethereal Darkness are about to get a lot more attention in the metalverse, and they deserve it. Hear this massive monster or be a lesser mortal. Somebody better sign these guys toot-sweet!



Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: WAV
Label: Self-Release
Websites: etherealdarkness.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/etherealplace | instagram.com/etherealdarknessband
Releases Worldwide: March 20th, 2026

Way back in the year before the Great Plague, I took a chance and reviewed an unheralded, self-released album by a one-man band from Belgium called Ethereal Darkness. We received the promo from the AMG contact forms without fanfare or fluff, but what I heard on Smoke and Shadows really impressed me. Project mastermind Lars created a monumental slab of melancholic, melodic doom in the vein of Insomnium, Rapture, and Before the Dawn, and the material had depth, power, and gravitas. It seemed like the work of a seasoned and polished group of musicians despite some rough edges. The years have drifted by since that review, and I’d all but given up Ethereal Darkness for dead. Imagine my surprise when Lars reached out recently to alert me to the pending release of his second album, Echoes. 6 years on, the solo project is now a full-fledged band ready to tour in support of their latest release. And what a large release it is! At 60 minutes, Echoes takes the style from the debut and goes way bigger, with much longer compositions and greater ambition in the writing. If that’s not big enough, it also features cover art from Adam Burke and a production from Dan “The Fücking Man” Swanö!1 Is bigger better in this case? Can more really be MOAR? And how are these guys still unsigned?? These are the questions of our time.

It takes ample ballsack to open with a nearly 11-minute song, but Ethereal Darkness do just that with “Gone With the Tide.” If the atmosphere on Smoke and Shadows impressed you, this will knock you into the next multiverse. It’s an epic, sweeping tableau of massive melodoom that holds nothing back as it transports you to majestic forests and towering mountains of snow and ice. It recalls the best works of Be’lakor and Black Sun Aeon, but there’s plenty of Insomnium in the DNA too. The guitarwork is phenomenal, full of sadboi trilling and doomy weight. The death vocals by Lars are very effective, the clean singing by acoustic guitarist Brecht hits the right way, and the lapses into blastbeating blackness are well-timed adrenaline spikes. This is a stupendous song and one of the best so far this year, and it goes by in a flash despite its girth. “The Cycle” continues to maintain the sky-high quality. It’s like a crazy mash-up of Eneferens and modern Amorphis, and you should pay big money for such a potent potable. It’s the kind of song you get lost in and lose track of time, and when you write songs in the 8-10 minute window, this is essential.

Elsewhere, “Winter” moves toward more blackened environs, channeling Saor and Nechochwen as epic soundscapes are raised and explored. The guitars here are beautifully rendered, and it’s another triumph for this unheralded project. Equally monolithic is “On the Edge of the Cliff,” where the music turns more aggressive and urgent, merging black and melodeath idioms adroitly for maximum impact. There’s an epic Viking metal energy here that makes you want to conquer and rule the weak, and it feels dangerously powerful. Despite so much magnificent opulence and aural decadence, there are some weaker moments. “IV” is very, very good and hints at my beloved Rapture, but it ends up feeling too long at 9:45, and trimming it by a few minutes would have helped. Ginormous closer “Realization” runs over 13 minutes, and despite good to great moments throughout, it’s undone by its sheer width and breadth. In its final minutes, I find it increasingly difficult to stay locked in and attentive. At just over 60 minutes, Echoes can be a daunting listen due to its density and length, but the reward is well worth the effort. I can’t find fault with the Swanö-ified production, as everything sounds lush, gorgeous, and heavy without being loud or oppressive.

Lars handles guitar, bass, keyboards, and harsh vocals, and to say he did an amazing job across the board doesn’t begin to cover it. There are some big, emotional moments here courtesy of his 6-string heroics, referencing the works of Tuomas Saukkonen without imitating. His deep death roars punctuate the music with force, and his blackened cackles and screams pierce through like lasers. His restrained use of keyboards should be a case study for other acts in the genre. They add atmosphere but rarely rise out of the distant background. Becht provides soothing acoustic guitar passages and clean vocals that deliver pathos and emotion. Peter’s drumming is a vast improvement over the programmed percussion from the debut, imbuing the material with vibrancy and weight. Applause all around for this crew!

Echoes is a bigger, better album than Smoke and Shadows in every way, with several tracks worthy of Song o’ the Year consideration. The album length and the bloat on a few tracks hold it back from even greater heights, but just barely. This is a sumptuous feast for the ears and mind, and I get the feeling I’ll be spending a lot of time with this over the next few months. Ethereal Darkness are about to get a lot more attention in the metalverse, and they deserve it. Hear this massive monster or be a lesser mortal. Somebody better sign these guys toot-sweet!



Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: WAV
Label: Self-Release
Websites: etherealdarkness.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/etherealplace | instagram.com/etherealdarknessband
Releases Worldwide: March 20th, 2026

Way back in the year before the Great Plague, I took a chance and reviewed an unheralded, self-released album by a one-man band from Belgium called Ethereal Darkness. We received the promo from the AMG contact forms without fanfare or fluff, but what I heard on Smoke and Shadows really impressed me. Project mastermind Lars created a monumental slab of melancholic, melodic doom in the vein of Insomnium, Rapture, and Before the Dawn, and the material had depth, power, and gravitas. It seemed like the work of a seasoned and polished group of musicians despite some rough edges. The years have drifted by since that review, and I’d all but given up Ethereal Darkness for dead. Imagine my surprise when Lars reached out recently to alert me to the pending release of his second album, Echoes. 6 years on, the solo project is now a full-fledged band ready to tour in support of their latest release. And what a large release it is! At 60 minutes, Echoes takes the style from the debut and goes way bigger, with much longer compositions and greater ambition in the writing. If that’s not big enough, it also features cover art from Adam Burke and a production from Dan “The Fücking Man” Swanö!1 Is bigger better in this case? Can more really be MOAR? And how are these guys still unsigned?? These are the questions of our time.

It takes ample ballsack to open with a nearly 11-minute song, but Ethereal Darkness do just that with “Gone With the Tide.” If the atmosphere on Smoke and Shadows impressed you, this will knock you into the next multiverse. It’s an epic, sweeping tableau of massive melodoom that holds nothing back as it transports you to majestic forests and towering mountains of snow and ice. It recalls the best works of Be’lakor and Black Sun Aeon, but there’s plenty of Insomnium in the DNA too. The guitarwork is phenomenal, full of sadboi trilling and doomy weight. The death vocals by Lars are very effective, the clean singing by acoustic guitarist Brecht hits the right way, and the lapses into blastbeating blackness are well-timed adrenaline spikes. This is a stupendous song and one of the best so far this year, and it goes by in a flash despite its girth. “The Cycle” continues to maintain the sky-high quality. It’s like a crazy mash-up of Eneferens and modern Amorphis, and you should pay big money for such a potent potable. It’s the kind of song you get lost in and lose track of time, and when you write songs in the 8-10 minute window, this is essential.

Elsewhere, “Winter” moves toward more blackened environs, channeling Saor and Nechochwen as epic soundscapes are raised and explored. The guitars here are beautifully rendered, and it’s another triumph for this unheralded project. Equally monolithic is “On the Edge of the Cliff,” where the music turns more aggressive and urgent, merging black and melodeath idioms adroitly for maximum impact. There’s an epic Viking metal energy here that makes you want to conquer and rule the weak, and it feels dangerously powerful. Despite so much magnificent opulence and aural decadence, there are some weaker moments. “IV” is very, very good and hints at my beloved Rapture, but it ends up feeling too long at 9:45, and trimming it by a few minutes would have helped. Ginormous closer “Realization” runs over 13 minutes, and despite good to great moments throughout, it’s undone by its sheer width and breadth. In its final minutes, I find it increasingly difficult to stay locked in and attentive. At just over 60 minutes, Echoes can be a daunting listen due to its density and length, but the reward is well worth the effort. I can’t find fault with the Swanö-ified production, as everything sounds lush, gorgeous, and heavy without being loud or oppressive.

Lars handles guitar, bass, keyboards, and harsh vocals, and to say he did an amazing job across the board doesn’t begin to cover it. There are some big, emotional moments here courtesy of his 6-string heroics, referencing the works of Tuomas Saukkonen without imitating. His deep death roars punctuate the music with force, and his blackened cackles and screams pierce through like lasers. His restrained use of keyboards should be a case study for other acts in the genre. They add atmosphere but rarely rise out of the distant background. Becht provides soothing acoustic guitar passages and clean vocals that deliver pathos and emotion. Peter’s drumming is a vast improvement over the programmed percussion from the debut, imbuing the material with vibrancy and weight. Applause all around for this crew!

Echoes is a bigger, better album than Smoke and Shadows in every way, with several tracks worthy of Song o’ the Year consideration. The album length and the bloat on a few tracks hold it back from even greater heights, but just barely. This is a sumptuous feast for the ears and mind, and I get the feeling I’ll be spending a lot of time with this over the next few months. Ethereal Darkness are about to get a lot more attention in the metalverse, and they deserve it. Hear this massive monster or be a lesser mortal. Somebody better sign these guys toot-sweet!



Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: WAV
Label: Self-Release
Websites: etherealdarkness.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/etherealplace | instagram.com/etherealdarknessband
Releases Worldwide: March 20th, 2026

Way back in the year before the Great Plague, I took a chance and reviewed an unheralded, self-released album by a one-man band from Belgium called Ethereal Darkness. We received the promo from the AMG contact forms without fanfare or fluff, but what I heard on Smoke and Shadows really impressed me. Project mastermind Lars created a monumental slab of melancholic, melodic doom in the vein of Insomnium, Rapture, and Before the Dawn, and the material had depth, power, and gravitas. It seemed like the work of a seasoned and polished group of musicians despite some rough edges. The years have drifted by since that review, and I’d all but given up Ethereal Darkness for dead. Imagine my surprise when Lars reached out recently to alert me to the pending release of his second album, Echoes. 6 years on, the solo project is now a full-fledged band ready to tour in support of their latest release. And what a large release it is! At 60 minutes, Echoes takes the style from the debut and goes way bigger, with much longer compositions and greater ambition in the writing. If that’s not big enough, it also features cover art from Adam Burke and a production from Dan “The Fücking Man” Swanö!1 Is bigger better in this case? Can more really be MOAR? And how are these guys still unsigned?? These are the questions of our time.

It takes ample ballsack to open with a nearly 11-minute song, but Ethereal Darkness do just that with “Gone With the Tide.” If the atmosphere on Smoke and Shadows impressed you, this will knock you into the next multiverse. It’s an epic, sweeping tableau of massive melodoom that holds nothing back as it transports you to majestic forests and towering mountains of snow and ice. It recalls the best works of Be’lakor and Black Sun Aeon, but there’s plenty of Insomnium in the DNA too. The guitarwork is phenomenal, full of sadboi trilling and doomy weight. The death vocals by Lars are very effective, the clean singing by acoustic guitarist Brecht hits the right way, and the lapses into blastbeating blackness are well-timed adrenaline spikes. This is a stupendous song and one of the best so far this year, and it goes by in a flash despite its girth. “The Cycle” continues to maintain the sky-high quality. It’s like a crazy mash-up of Eneferens and modern Amorphis, and you should pay big money for such a potent potable. It’s the kind of song you get lost in and lose track of time, and when you write songs in the 8-10 minute window, this is essential.

Elsewhere, “Winter” moves toward more blackened environs, channeling Saor and Nechochwen as epic soundscapes are raised and explored. The guitars here are beautifully rendered, and it’s another triumph for this unheralded project. Equally monolithic is “On the Edge of the Cliff,” where the music turns more aggressive and urgent, merging black and melodeath idioms adroitly for maximum impact. There’s an epic Viking metal energy here that makes you want to conquer and rule the weak, and it feels dangerously powerful. Despite so much magnificent opulence and aural decadence, there are some weaker moments. “IV” is very, very good and hints at my beloved Rapture, but it ends up feeling too long at 9:45, and trimming it by a few minutes would have helped. Ginormous closer “Realization” runs over 13 minutes, and despite good to great moments throughout, it’s undone by its sheer width and breadth. In its final minutes, I find it increasingly difficult to stay locked in and attentive. At just over 60 minutes, Echoes can be a daunting listen due to its density and length, but the reward is well worth the effort. I can’t find fault with the Swanö-ified production, as everything sounds lush, gorgeous, and heavy without being loud or oppressive.

Lars handles guitar, bass, keyboards, and harsh vocals, and to say he did an amazing job across the board doesn’t begin to cover it. There are some big, emotional moments here courtesy of his 6-string heroics, referencing the works of Tuomas Saukkonen without imitating. His deep death roars punctuate the music with force, and his blackened cackles and screams pierce through like lasers. His restrained use of keyboards should be a case study for other acts in the genre. They add atmosphere but rarely rise out of the distant background. Becht provides soothing acoustic guitar passages and clean vocals that deliver pathos and emotion. Peter’s drumming is a vast improvement over the programmed percussion from the debut, imbuing the material with vibrancy and weight. Applause all around for this crew!

Echoes is a bigger, better album than Smoke and Shadows in every way, with several tracks worthy of Song o’ the Year consideration. The album length and the bloat on a few tracks hold it back from even greater heights, but just barely. This is a sumptuous feast for the ears and mind, and I get the feeling I’ll be spending a lot of time with this over the next few months. Ethereal Darkness are about to get a lot more attention in the metalverse, and they deserve it. Hear this massive monster or be a lesser mortal. Somebody better sign these guys toot-sweet!



Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: WAV
Label: Self-Release
Websites: etherealdarkness.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/etherealplace | instagram.com/etherealdarknessband
Releases Worldwide: March 20th, 2026

Way back in the year before the Great Plague, I took a chance and reviewed an unheralded, self-released album by a one-man band from Belgium called Ethereal Darkness. We received the promo from the AMG contact forms without fanfare or fluff, but what I heard on Smoke and Shadows really impressed me. Project mastermind Lars created a monumental slab of melancholic, melodic doom in the vein of Insomnium, Rapture, and Before the Dawn, and the material had depth, power, and gravitas. It seemed like the work of a seasoned and polished group of musicians despite some rough edges. The years have drifted by since that review, and I’d all but given up Ethereal Darkness for dead. Imagine my surprise when Lars reached out recently to alert me to the pending release of his second album, Echoes. 6 years on, the solo project is now a full-fledged band ready to tour in support of their latest release. And what a large release it is! At 60 minutes, Echoes takes the style from the debut and goes way bigger, with much longer compositions and greater ambition in the writing. If that’s not big enough, it also features cover art from Adam Burke and a production from Dan “The Fücking Man” Swanö!1 Is bigger better in this case? Can more really be MOAR? And how are these guys still unsigned?? These are the questions of our time.

It takes ample ballsack to open with a nearly 11-minute song, but Ethereal Darkness do just that with “Gone With the Tide.” If the atmosphere on Smoke and Shadows impressed you, this will knock you into the next multiverse. It’s an epic, sweeping tableau of massive melodoom that holds nothing back as it transports you to majestic forests and towering mountains of snow and ice. It recalls the best works of Be’lakor and Black Sun Aeon, but there’s plenty of Insomnium in the DNA too. The guitarwork is phenomenal, full of sadboi trilling and doomy weight. The death vocals by Lars are very effective, the clean singing by acoustic guitarist Brecht hits the right way, and the lapses into blastbeating blackness are well-timed adrenaline spikes. This is a stupendous song and one of the best so far this year, and it goes by in a flash despite its girth. “The Cycle” continues to maintain the sky-high quality. It’s like a crazy mash-up of Eneferens and modern Amorphis, and you should pay big money for such a potent potable. It’s the kind of song you get lost in and lose track of time, and when you write songs in the 8-10 minute window, this is essential.

Elsewhere, “Winter” moves toward more blackened environs, channeling Saor and Nechochwen as epic soundscapes are raised and explored. The guitars here are beautifully rendered, and it’s another triumph for this unheralded project. Equally monolithic is “On the Edge of the Cliff,” where the music turns more aggressive and urgent, merging black and melodeath idioms adroitly for maximum impact. There’s an epic Viking metal energy here that makes you want to conquer and rule the weak, and it feels dangerously powerful. Despite so much magnificent opulence and aural decadence, there are some weaker moments. “IV” is very, very good and hints at my beloved Rapture, but it ends up feeling too long at 9:45, and trimming it by a few minutes would have helped. Ginormous closer “Realization” runs over 13 minutes, and despite good to great moments throughout, it’s undone by its sheer width and breadth. In its final minutes, I find it increasingly difficult to stay locked in and attentive. At just over 60 minutes, Echoes can be a daunting listen due to its density and length, but the reward is well worth the effort. I can’t find fault with the Swanö-ified production, as everything sounds lush, gorgeous, and heavy without being loud or oppressive.

Lars handles guitar, bass, keyboards, and harsh vocals, and to say he did an amazing job across the board doesn’t begin to cover it. There are some big, emotional moments here courtesy of his 6-string heroics, referencing the works of Tuomas Saukkonen without imitating. His deep death roars punctuate the music with force, and his blackened cackles and screams pierce through like lasers. His restrained use of keyboards should be a case study for other acts in the genre. They add atmosphere but rarely rise out of the distant background. Becht provides soothing acoustic guitar passages and clean vocals that deliver pathos and emotion. Peter’s drumming is a vast improvement over the programmed percussion from the debut, imbuing the material with vibrancy and weight. Applause all around for this crew!

Echoes is a bigger, better album than Smoke and Shadows in every way, with several tracks worthy of Song o’ the Year consideration. The album length and the bloat on a few tracks hold it back from even greater heights, but just barely. This is a sumptuous feast for the ears and mind, and I get the feeling I’ll be spending a lot of time with this over the next few months. Ethereal Darkness are about to get a lot more attention in the metalverse, and they deserve it. Hear this massive monster or be a lesser mortal. Somebody better sign these guys toot-sweet!



Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: WAV
Label: Self-Release
Websites: etherealdarkness.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/etherealplace | instagram.com/etherealdarknessband
Releases Worldwide: March 20th, 2026

Last Thursday I was at De Helling to capture #FullHouseBrewCrew, #Suotana , #BeforeTheDawn & #Wolfheart. 🖤
The Wolfheart recap reel drops tonight once I’m back in Rotterdam, with the Before The Dawn reel following on Monday.
The full photo set will be online this Tuesday! 📷

Tonight I’ll be back at #DeHelling for #Dvne & #NightVerses. 📽️

Last Thursday I was at De Helling to capture #FullHouseBrewCrew, #Suotana , #BeforeTheDawn & #Wolfheart. 🖤
The Wolfheart recap reel drops tonight once I’m back in Rotterdam, with the Before The Dawn reel following on Monday.
The full photo set will be online this Tuesday! 📷

Tonight I’ll be back at #DeHelling for #Dvne & #NightVerses. 📽️

Last Thursday I was at De Helling to capture #FullHouseBrewCrew, #Suotana , #BeforeTheDawn & #Wolfheart. 🖤
The Wolfheart recap reel drops tonight once I’m back in Rotterdam, with the Before The Dawn reel following on Monday.
The full photo set will be online this Tuesday! 📷

Tonight I’ll be back at #DeHelling for #Dvne & #NightVerses. 📽️

Last Thursday I was at De Helling to capture #FullHouseBrewCrew, #Suotana , #BeforeTheDawn & #Wolfheart. 🖤
The Wolfheart recap reel drops tonight once I’m back in Rotterdam, with the Before The Dawn reel following on Monday.
The full photo set will be online this Tuesday! 📷

Tonight I’ll be back at #DeHelling for #Dvne & #NightVerses. 📽️

[Concert] Swallow the Sun, Before the Dawn et Stam1na au Backstage by the Mill à Paris
https://urlr.me/YxVWKT

#shiningovereurope #SwallowtheSun #Stam1na #beforethedawn #stormbringers #finnishmetal #nordicmetal #melodicdeathmetal #melodicmetal #metalmusic #doom #doommetal #gothic #gothicmetal #atmosphericdoom #Melancholy #SwallowTheSun2025Tour

Dawn of Solace – Affliction Vortex Review

By Steel Druhm

When Tuomas Saukkonen of Wolfheart, Before the Dawn, and Black Sun Aeon fame resurrected his Dawn of Solace project with the help of mighty Goth vocalist Mikko Heikkilä (ex-Sinamore) for 2020s Waves, big things happened. The duo’s experience working on Black Sun Aeon paid dividends and together they created a rich, engrossing, highly memorable slab of melancholic doom/death dripping with Finnish sadboi glory. Waves ended up my Record o’ the Year for 2020 and I still break it out when winter winds begin to blow. 2022s Flames of Perdition was a worthy follow-up though it couldn’t quite reach the same lofty heights as its predecessor. Affliction Vortex is the third collaboration between Toumas and Mikko under the Dawn of Solace banner and wisely, they haven’t tweaked the formula much. It’s still uber-glum melo-doom designed for a cold winter’s night introspection and all the key elements are in place. But can it hope to rival the maudlin majesty of Waves?

Not a chance, but it’s hard to resist what Tuomas and Mikko brew up nonetheless. Toumas has proven himself a master craftsman when it comes to weepy, despondent guitar work and sullen writing, and he’s lost none of his edge. When paired with Mikko’s smooth but pained vocals, good things are bound to happen. First proper track “Murder” is a classic Dawn of Solace composition, weighed down with forlorn guitar lines and carried expertly by Mikko’s despondent crooning. It’s exactly the kind of song you expect and desire from the duo and it doesn’t disappoint. This would have sat well on Waves, and no further compliments need be paid. “Fortress” begins life sounding like something off Katatonia’s Viva Emptiness with tense, angular riffs, before Toumas comes in with weighty death bellows and trilling harmonies that take things back to Finnish environs. “Into the Light” sounds like an old Black Sun Aeon song dug up and reworked, and I’m predestined to like it due to the downcast riffs and Finnish graveyard aesthetic. Tuomas delivers icy black rasps for extra chills and all is well.

The album crests with “Rival” – one of the best songs to come out of the Tuomas/Mikko collaboration, which is saying something. Mikko stretches himself vocally, providing an emotive journey that climaxes with a stellar chorus that hits just right. It’s sullen but vibrant and I can’t get enough of it. “Dream” is another stone-cold killer, leveraging Mikko’s vocal talents for maximum payoff as Tuomas roars in the background. Shades of Rapture live large in this one, but it’s undeniably a Tuomas joint. Some songs like “Invitation” recycle the sounds of Before the Dawn and Black Sun Aeon more than others, but it’s done toward good ends. “Perennial” is an interesting cut, slower, heavier and more dependent on Tuomas’ death grunts while Mikko alters his delivery toward something more rock-based. It stands out and almost feels out of place, but it works. At a tight 39 minutes, there’s no unsightly padding and only one track breaks the 4-minute barrier. This makes for a brisk, engaging spin with a solid replay factor.

What more can be said of the talents of this duo? Tuomas has proven his worth on countless albums spanning multiple genres and he continues to find inspiration in the darker side of life and the human psyche. He excels at crafting depressive doom and his riffcraft is always high quality. There are many of his cold, fragile, and morose leads here and plenty of his Gothy trilling and harmonizing too. His death roars and blackened rasps are good as always, injecting extremity into the melancholy while adding an effective counterpoint to Mikko’s disconsolate singing. Speaking of which, Mikko is always a slam dunk when it comes to this kind of music. He’s the prototype of a Goth metal singer and his voice is perfectly suited to the dejected songcraft. This is one of those pairings you can count on to deliver, and they do it again here.

I doubt Dawn of Solace will ever top what they accomplished on Waves, but three albums into the Mikko era, they’ve done nothing but deliver high quality output. Affliction Vortex is more or less the equal to Flames of Perdition with major highs and no duds. They’ve found a sweet spot in the sadboi doom genre and I hope they continue to mine it for more gems. I’ll keep buying until they hit the unruly Balrog.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Noble Demon
Websites: dawnofsolace.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/dawnofsolace |
Releases Worldwide: February 14th, 2025

#2025 #35 #AfflictionVortex #BeforeTheDawn #BlackSunAeon #DawnOfSolace #DoomMetal #FinnishMetal #FlamesOfPerdition #Insomnium #Katatonia #NobleDemon #Rapture #Review #Reviews #Waves #Wolfheart

Dawn of Solace – Affliction Vortex Review

By Steel Druhm

When Tuomas Saukkonen of Wolfheart, Before the Dawn, and Black Sun Aeon fame resurrected his Dawn of Solace project with the help of mighty Goth vocalist Mikko Heikkilä (ex-Sinamore) for 2020s Waves, big things happened. The duo’s experience working on Black Sun Aeon paid dividends and together they created a rich, engrossing, highly memorable slab of melancholic doom/death dripping with Finnish sadboi glory. Waves ended up my Record o’ the Year for 2020 and I still break it out when winter winds begin to blow. 2022s Flames of Perdition was a worthy follow-up though it couldn’t quite reach the same lofty heights as its predecessor. Affliction Vortex is the third collaboration between Toumas and Mikko under the Dawn of Solace banner and wisely, they haven’t tweaked the formula much. It’s still uber-glum melo-doom designed for a cold winter’s night introspection and all the key elements are in place. But can it hope to rival the maudlin majesty of Waves?

Not a chance, but it’s hard to resist what Tuomas and Mikko brew up nonetheless. Toumas has proven himself a master craftsman when it comes to weepy, despondent guitar work and sullen writing, and he’s lost none of his edge. When paired with Mikko’s smooth but pained vocals, good things are bound to happen. First proper track “Murder” is a classic Dawn of Solace composition, weighed down with forlorn guitar lines and carried expertly by Mikko’s despondent crooning. It’s exactly the kind of song you expect and desire from the duo and it doesn’t disappoint. This would have sat well on Waves, and no further compliments need be paid. “Fortress” begins life sounding like something off Katatonia’s Viva Emptiness with tense, angular riffs, before Toumas comes in with weighty death bellows and trilling harmonies that take things back to Finnish environs. “Into the Light” sounds like an old Black Sun Aeon song dug up and reworked, and I’m predestined to like it due to the downcast riffs and Finnish graveyard aesthetic. Tuomas delivers icy black rasps for extra chills and all is well.

The album crests with “Rival” – one of the best songs to come out of the Tuomas/Mikko collaboration, which is saying something. Mikko stretches himself vocally, providing an emotive journey that climaxes with a stellar chorus that hits just right. It’s sullen but vibrant and I can’t get enough of it. “Dream” is another stone-cold killer, leveraging Mikko’s vocal talents for maximum payoff as Tuomas roars in the background. Shades of Rapture live large in this one, but it’s undeniably a Tuomas joint. Some songs like “Invitation” recycle the sounds of Before the Dawn and Black Sun Aeon more than others, but it’s done toward good ends. “Perennial” is an interesting cut, slower, heavier and more dependent on Tuomas’ death grunts while Mikko alters his delivery toward something more rock-based. It stands out and almost feels out of place, but it works. At a tight 39 minutes, there’s no unsightly padding and only one track breaks the 4-minute barrier. This makes for a brisk, engaging spin with a solid replay factor.

What more can be said of the talents of this duo? Tuomas has proven his worth on countless albums spanning multiple genres and he continues to find inspiration in the darker side of life and the human psyche. He excels at crafting depressive doom and his riffcraft is always high quality. There are many of his cold, fragile, and morose leads here and plenty of his Gothy trilling and harmonizing too. His death roars and blackened rasps are good as always, injecting extremity into the melancholy while adding an effective counterpoint to Mikko’s disconsolate singing. Speaking of which, Mikko is always a slam dunk when it comes to this kind of music. He’s the prototype of a Goth metal singer and his voice is perfectly suited to the dejected songcraft. This is one of those pairings you can count on to deliver, and they do it again here.

I doubt Dawn of Solace will ever top what they accomplished on Waves, but three albums into the Mikko era, they’ve done nothing but deliver high quality output. Affliction Vortex is more or less the equal to Flames of Perdition with major highs and no duds. They’ve found a sweet spot in the sadboi doom genre and I hope they continue to mine it for more gems. I’ll keep buying until they hit the unruly Balrog.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Noble Demon
Websites: dawnofsolace.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/dawnofsolace |
Releases Worldwide: February 14th, 2025

#2025 #35 #AfflictionVortex #BeforeTheDawn #BlackSunAeon #DawnOfSolace #DoomMetal #FinnishMetal #FlamesOfPerdition #Insomnium #Katatonia #NobleDemon #Rapture #Review #Reviews #Waves #Wolfheart

Dawn of Solace – Affliction Vortex Review

By Steel Druhm

When Tuomas Saukkonen of Wolfheart, Before the Dawn, and Black Sun Aeon fame resurrected his Dawn of Solace project with the help of mighty Goth vocalist Mikko Heikkilä (ex-Sinamore) for 2020s Waves, big things happened. The duo’s experience working on Black Sun Aeon paid dividends and together they created a rich, engrossing, highly memorable slab of melancholic doom/death dripping with Finnish sadboi glory. Waves ended up my Record o’ the Year for 2020 and I still break it out when winter winds begin to blow. 2022s Flames of Perdition was a worthy follow-up though it couldn’t quite reach the same lofty heights as its predecessor. Affliction Vortex is the third collaboration between Toumas and Mikko under the Dawn of Solace banner and wisely, they haven’t tweaked the formula much. It’s still uber-glum melo-doom designed for a cold winter’s night introspection and all the key elements are in place. But can it hope to rival the maudlin majesty of Waves?

Not a chance, but it’s hard to resist what Tuomas and Mikko brew up nonetheless. Toumas has proven himself a master craftsman when it comes to weepy, despondent guitar work and sullen writing, and he’s lost none of his edge. When paired with Mikko’s smooth but pained vocals, good things are bound to happen. First proper track “Murder” is a classic Dawn of Solace composition, weighed down with forlorn guitar lines and carried expertly by Mikko’s despondent crooning. It’s exactly the kind of song you expect and desire from the duo and it doesn’t disappoint. This would have sat well on Waves, and no further compliments need be paid. “Fortress” begins life sounding like something off Katatonia’s Viva Emptiness with tense, angular riffs, before Toumas comes in with weighty death bellows and trilling harmonies that take things back to Finnish environs. “Into the Light” sounds like an old Black Sun Aeon song dug up and reworked, and I’m predestined to like it due to the downcast riffs and Finnish graveyard aesthetic. Tuomas delivers icy black rasps for extra chills and all is well.

The album crests with “Rival” – one of the best songs to come out of the Tuomas/Mikko collaboration, which is saying something. Mikko stretches himself vocally, providing an emotive journey that climaxes with a stellar chorus that hits just right. It’s sullen but vibrant and I can’t get enough of it. “Dream” is another stone-cold killer, leveraging Mikko’s vocal talents for maximum payoff as Tuomas roars in the background. Shades of Rapture live large in this one, but it’s undeniably a Tuomas joint. Some songs like “Invitation” recycle the sounds of Before the Dawn and Black Sun Aeon more than others, but it’s done toward good ends. “Perennial” is an interesting cut, slower, heavier and more dependent on Tuomas’ death grunts while Mikko alters his delivery toward something more rock-based. It stands out and almost feels out of place, but it works. At a tight 39 minutes, there’s no unsightly padding and only one track breaks the 4-minute barrier. This makes for a brisk, engaging spin with a solid replay factor.

What more can be said of the talents of this duo? Tuomas has proven his worth on countless albums spanning multiple genres and he continues to find inspiration in the darker side of life and the human psyche. He excels at crafting depressive doom and his riffcraft is always high quality. There are many of his cold, fragile, and morose leads here and plenty of his Gothy trilling and harmonizing too. His death roars and blackened rasps are good as always, injecting extremity into the melancholy while adding an effective counterpoint to Mikko’s disconsolate singing. Speaking of which, Mikko is always a slam dunk when it comes to this kind of music. He’s the prototype of a Goth metal singer and his voice is perfectly suited to the dejected songcraft. This is one of those pairings you can count on to deliver, and they do it again here.

I doubt Dawn of Solace will ever top what they accomplished on Waves, but three albums into the Mikko era, they’ve done nothing but deliver high quality output. Affliction Vortex is more or less the equal to Flames of Perdition with major highs and no duds. They’ve found a sweet spot in the sadboi doom genre and I hope they continue to mine it for more gems. I’ll keep buying until they hit the unruly Balrog.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Noble Demon
Websites: dawnofsolace.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/dawnofsolace |
Releases Worldwide: February 14th, 2025

#2025 #35 #AfflictionVortex #BeforeTheDawn #BlackSunAeon #DawnOfSolace #DoomMetal #FinnishMetal #FlamesOfPerdition #Insomnium #Katatonia #NobleDemon #Rapture #Review #Reviews #Waves #Wolfheart

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