Frozen Dawn – The Decline of the Enlightened Gods

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From Bandcamp, “The momentum remains unabated as the band pummels its way through nine elaborate tracks. Many bands have attempted to recreate this sound with varying degrees of success but clearly FROZEN DAWN have excelled at it which is mainly due to their knack for meticulous songwriting that straddles heaviness with emotion, allowing them to enhance the expression and maintain the much-needed diversity for the style. This album is easily their best one yet and is head and shoulders above the rest of them where this kind of music goes in recent memory.”

“Mystic Fires of Dark Allegiance” is the first. It’s a pretty standard Black Metal offering, with thick guitars, thunderous drumming, harsh vocal screams, and bass mixed out for the most part. There is nothing special or unique about this. “Black Reign Awaits” is more of the same. The pacing is a bit slower but it sounds very similar to the previous song. “Frozen Kings” features a steadier riff and some more discernable rhythms, but the song is again quite similar to the other two. “Wanderer of Times” is the fourth song in a row with basically the same sound. The band isn’t really trying to separate themselves from thousands of others in the genre.

“Oath of Forgotten Past” is essentially the first song with a little variation in sound. Although there is not much. The slower grind lets some of the more interesting music through, but most of it is clouded in overly thick riffs. “Cosmic Black Chaos” is another slow grind with again the same sound as other songs. The title track is the longest on the album, and finally, the opening sequence breathes a bit. From there however, it’s more of the same again. “The Fall of Aeons” closes the album; a short and sad instrumental, with clean guitars and a solemn tone.

For a pretty well-known label, I expected more from the band and the album. The production is very raw, and most of the bass has been mixed out. The cover art is fantastic. But besides that, its just another Black Metal album overly full of FWOBM influence.

Songwriting: 3
Musicianship: 4
Memorability: 3
Production: 6