Review Dawn of Winter - The Peaceful Dead 2008

Tracks
01. The Music Of Despair
02. A Lovelorn Traveller
03. Mourner
04. Holy Blood
05. The Oath Of The Witch
06. Throne Of Isolation
07. Burn Another Sinner
08. All The Gods You Worship
09. Anthem Of Doom
10. The Peaceful Dead

Band:
Gerrit P. Mutz - Vocals
Jörg M. Knittel - Guitar
Joachim Schmalzried - Bass
Dennis Schediwy - Drums

Discorgraphy:
Path of the Worm (Demo,1991)
Celebrate the Agony (EP, 1993)
Doomcult Performance (Live Demo, 1994)
Black Revelations (Demo, 1995)
In Servitude to Destiny (Demo, 1996)
In the Valley of Tears (1998)
Slow is the Suffering (EP, 2001)
Doomcult Performance (2003)

Links:
dawnofwinter.de
myspace
massacre records

How very fitting that a band called Dawn of Winter will release their new album just when winter dawns, at the so called dawn of winter. That is something that certainly qualify as great timing or luck if it was not planned. The album was out at the 14/11 which would mean that we here in the northern Sweden have our winter already while it is dawning on more southern locations in the nation and in Europe.

So what is Dawn of Winter? Besides being the time when winter dawns. Well it is so called doom metal band that is more or less about going to the morose and dark places of existence. Slowly moving music with loads of moody passages and moody slow-paced vocals is what we are hearing. Something in the vein of a band like Candlemass if you have heard that band otherwise the description is about right

The band does what it is about in a very good way with their dark moody metal that moves forward at a pace much slower than regular walking, it is like they are slow walking through darker places. Gerrit P. Mutz, the vocalist has a voice that is very suited to this kind of music and it is very hard to dislike this band as they do this so very good, much better than any other doom metal band I have heard so far. And they do take it slow all the way through, more or less.

I would say that the band is best when the pace is raised a little, when the music is a little faster than the slow crawl that it usually is. A song like Burn Another Sinner is such a song, the opener called Music of Despair sets the tone very well and is probably the best track on the record. Holy blood is all about what the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail or the DaVinci Code is all about, the speculations about whether or not Jesus had a life and it is also a track I remember from this record.

All in all it is a very good record, the best I have heard from the doom genre as of yet, but bare in mind that I have not really heard much from the genre. The songs and production are both very good, as is the song writing and the album in general. I have one issue however and it is that the album just feels like it is a too long album. I have nothing to support this theory, however it is a distinct feeling and when you get this feeling you just know that the record is too long, which is my reservation here.

Great doom metal, slow and powerful but just too long and painful in the end.

HHHHHHH

Written on 11-17-08