Review Summary: Awesome Melodic Death Metal band from Madrid, Spain they are. This EP is just a show of what they got. Could be hailed as a classic in some years.
For those who do not know the band, Dawn of Tears are:
J. Alonso - Vocals
A. Perez - Guitar
J.L. Trebol - Guitar
Konrad - Bass
I. Perez - Drums
Spain has many great things. They have a great soccer league (Atletico de Madrid por siempre!), they have Gaudi's architecture, they got that Arabic culture infusion in Sevilla, La Puerta De Alcala in Madrid... A great country indeed. But Madrid has other things asides from 2 great soccer teams and some really great places: They got Dawn of Tears, one of the most promising bands of recent years. Formed in 1999, this band didn't really do much until 2007, when they released their first LP, Descent. That LP was quite a great debut, with really few flaws. 2 years later, they've come and released an EP that displays their great potential. Being a band that leaves their albums free for download over the internet and having only one LP and 1 EP, asides from being very much unknown, you might think they're amateurs, but it's far from that: They are at the level of some of the best melodeath bands, and maybe even better. Their sound could be described as if Children of Bodom, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity and Cradle of Filth decided to do an EP toghether, but each one being on top of their game: The music is at the same time melodic, aggressive, technical and catchy. They manage it all at the same time, and with no flaws at all, I must admit. It's enough to listen to the opener, Cadent Beating, to witness how do they get it all done at once.
This band has it all: A great vocalist who ranges from sounding like an improved version of Anders Frieden from In Flames when using his Death Grunt at times sounding like Mikael Stanne from Dark Tranquillity in his Damage Done era, going to a Danni Filth like low whisper, all the way to some impressive clean vocals that normally harmonize with some grunts and at times with some female vocals for a great effect, normally that being in the choruses, which are really memorable. Dual lead guitars are obligatory for a melodeath band, and they keep that with no problem, the solos in this album are mindblowing, showing some great technical proficiency, keeping the melody with no problem. The riffs are also great, they can go from quite heavy to light power-metally ones. The bass manages to stand out enough, mainly in the song Winds of Despair, where you can listen to it quite clearly under all the madness. The drumming is quite good, keeping double bass most of the time, and there are some cool fills here and there, but in all honesty, it's the least memorable part of the album. I think Perez could do more interesting stuff. Lyrically, I have yet to figure out the lyrics, and they aren't up in their site yet, so I doubt I can comment on it any soon.
From the intro of the amazing 7 minute long
Cadent Beating, you will be blown away. Starting with some toy-piano like effects, it goes and builds up before finally exploding into a massive tremolo-picked riff. From that very moment, you will notice something: Dawn of Tears mean serious business. Alonso enters showing a great vocal performance, and about 3:05 into the song, you'll listen to the first chorus: Melodic and memorable, simply awesome. The keyboards (Who I do not know who takes care of it) keep the atmosphere for it. By 4:05, the first solo hits, and man, is that a great solo. This song alone is not only a great intro to the EP, but possibly their best song to date. The riffs, the solos, the vocals, the drums, everything about it is as perfect as possible.
Since They're Gone opens with a great piano intro, and the awesomeness is kept throughout. This song features some audible bass, and Alonso enters the vocals in a Danni Filth-like whisper, which is great. The chorus of this song is massive, with clean vocals harmonizing with death grunts. They sound simply perfect. After the relative calmness of the last song,
Winds of Despair opens with a heavy tremolo picked riff, yet the keyboard simulating violins behind it gives a good amount of melody to it. The drumming in this one is a bit faster than in last 2 songs. With some female operatic vocals in the background in some parts, it gives it more power. Some tempo changes here and there, and yet another amazing chorus. The solo in this song fits the atmosphere perfectly. And the last chorus is sang acapella, a big plus. And in harmonized clean vocals, kinda sounding like Vortex from Dimmu Borgir.
Next song,
As My Autums Withers opens with a heavy riff that once again gains the melody it has thanks to some background violins. This song has what I consider the best solo of the album, it's simply too damn good. Yet another solid, memorable song, every riff is great, and the solo is... well, THE solo. It finishes slowly fading out, making it's way to the next and last song.
Mr. Jarrod opens with one insane intro: Distorted guitar and piano at the same time have never sounded so good. And suddenly, the song explodes into the main riff, which is basically the intro with tremolo pick and without the piano. Alonso's vocals in this song are outstanding: Death metal growl, black metal shrieks, to whispers, some drowned all clean vocals at the end, and all perfectly done, I must add. The solo is epic, and fits perfectly the song. If goes from melodic to fast and back to melodic again. It closes with just violins, drums, and drowned out clean vocals. This is simply a perfect closer for a great album.
Now, I've praised this album quite a bit, but why do I give it a 4.5? Well, for one, it leaves you wishing for more, Mr. Jarrod is a great closer, but still leaves you waiting for a next song first time around. And to be honest, the drumming could be quite better, it is just... repetitive. Other than that, this band is a clear winner for me: The know how to be epic, when to, they got one hell of a vocalist who knows when to do each thing, they got a pair of amazing guitar players, and they are at a really high level for a band with so few records. This album is a clear 4.5 for me, would be a 5 if not for the above mentioned flaws. Every song is a 5/5 for me. This band has some serious potential, which I am sure we're yet to see.
P.S.: This EP and their debut LP are free for download in their site: http://www.dawnoftears.com/descarga.html
