We lived to see European metal to become modern in the USA. However, the American music business machine chews up everything and dresses it in an uniform which often is impropriate.
DAWN OF ASHES are seriously influenced by the European black metal. They are trying to take lots of its achievements. However the four Americans cannot tear themselves from their roots. Their music seeking is in a direction of a theatre aka CRADLE OF FIELD but the result is too much keyboards and plenty of effects as if from the horror movies.
The electronic beat-blasts with which DIMMU BURGIR overdo formerly, here are close to real drums. The music itself does not sound frankly. It is as if the EMO boys have decided to play a little bit black metal. The fast songs are galloping in an atmosphere of keyboards, typical black metal vocal but something squeezes through it – contemporary American hardcore reminding of SLIPKNOT. The slower moments are as if taken from the dawn of the death metal and the monotonous inferno efforts are similar to these of BETHLEHEM and NECROMANCER.
It is a paradox but the effort for super modern black metal has come to the fact that DAWN OF ASHES sound at some level retro with the strong expressed modulations (mostly in the vocals). The long mysterious titles of the songs and a little bit naïve samples will be good enough for the dark metal fans. The third album of DAWN OF ASHES indeed is ambitious! But it is modest in achievements. The Scandinavian flower has just grown on the Indian land… And the appetite of the fans could be wakened.
