After an unnecessarily long intro of beeping sounds, Finland’s Dawn Of Solace takes us on to a much more relevant journey through a world of impressive, melancholy and dark metal soundscapes.

Dawn of Solace is the more mellow, yet darker side of Tumas Saukkonen, who’s also the mastermind behind Before The Dawn.

The strange and fascinating thing is that ‘The Darkness’ – despite occasional growls and double pedalling – never becomes brutal or raw. It has a relaxed, almost meditative feel from beginning to end.

A part of the reason for this is the massive penchant for melody, acoustic guitars and the clean vocals by Lars Eikind who definitely hits the spot with a row of simple but fine choruses.

A pleasure to listen to!