On January 28th 2020, more than a decade after its predecessor The Darkness, Finnish death and gothic doom metal icon Tuomas Saukkonen (Wolfheart, Before the Dawn) returned with Waves, his sophomore solo-album under the flag of DAWN OF SOLACE.
Grey, heavy and dark, but still sorrow carrying certain beauty and strength - the long-awaited record turned out to be an honest picture of the current times for its writer and delivered exactly that kind of atmosphere everyone had hoped for. Already while recording the album it was clear that DAWN OF SOLACE was brought back to life and this time without the passing of another 14 years!
Flames of Perdition picks up where DAWN OF SOLACE left off with Waves, creating a world full of electrifying melancholy that evokes profound sadness. Like life itself, the darkness of DAWN OF SOLACE has evolved and made a few steps towards the void. This time with an extra amount of solitude that we all have gotten to know during the past 1,5 years.
Ok, so far the long intro with all the needed information. I only started to know this artist after listening to the label compilation of Noble Demon and really like the sound and the vocals. I asked directly to review the album and here it is!
The album starts with White Noise. You’ll hear first an acoustic guitar and then suddenly the electric guitar and the vocals jump in. Melancholy and sadness seems to have a chat together. I can even feel some coldness from outside. Listening to this song gives me all the reasons why I picked out this one (as I nearly have time to review anything). This is a blast and a well-crafted jewel! Erase starts way heavier with upfronted roaring guitars. The tempo is also a bit higher. Erase is also what I want to do with this Covid-19 era and take back all the people that died because of it! It’s a song that will get a lot of emotions out of yourself after listening to it. The title track Flames Of Perdition starts gently with a piano followed by a very melancholic voice. This is the kind of song that gets into your head. Dive into the darkness and loose yourself! It’s a masterpiece! The end is a real blast! Dying Light goes back to the acoustic feel and has a very melancholic touch. The fragility in the vocals will also stick on you until the music gets a blast and the tempo goes up together with the electrified guitars, heavy bass and hard hitting drums! Event Horizon mixes an acoustic touch with a heavier metal minded touch and brings on a more energetic drive. Black Shores starts with rambling guitars, breaks down with a piano lead passage and thus almost a new song withing this song before bursting out and creating a melodic wall of sound! I also hear a synth in the background. Towards the end we even get a solo! What a blast! Skyline starts acoustic, with the bass in the background and very melancholic vocals. The end is almost hypnotic and gets you so deep into the music that every noise almost hurts you! Serenity also starts in an acoustic way and seems to slowly drift like water dripping down from a hill and there are no vocals here and ends the regular album.
Up next are 2 bonus tracks! First one is the acoustic Lead Wings (Bonus Track) will haunt you for a while if you listen to it with headphones on and no distraction! It’s a killer song and I’m happy I can listen to it! The last one is also acoustic: Dead Air (Bonus Track)
Dawn of Solace is: Tuomas Saukkonen with vocals contributed by Mikko Heikkilä of Kaunis Kuolematon
For more info visit:
https://www.facebook.com/dawnofsolace/
https://www.instagram.com/tuomassaukkonen
https://dawnofsolace.bandcamp.com/
