By quirk of circumstance, melancholy and sadness have reached me this week with two releases and one more to come. Yesterday I had Hangman’s Chair with “Saddiction,” one of the saddest albums I have ever ran into here. Today is the day for Tuomas Saukkonen‘s Dawn of Solace with “Affliction Vortex,” doomy and melancholic as it can be. Not really my stronghold, but as the effort as a writer is worth it. It is always a need to write out of one’s comfort zone, even though I dislike this idea of getting out of one’s comfort zone. Meaningless, just meaningless.
Being formed in 2005 as Tuomas Saukkonen’s creative outlet, or as we are talking about it out of his comfort zone, Dawn of Solace quickly established itself with their debut album, 2006’s “The Darkness.” Despite a hiatus due to legal complications, – I really wonder what they are – the band’s loyal fanbase remained unwavering, keeping the flame alive. To some extent, “Affliction Vortex” ensures the band’s comeback after the hiatus as it is the third release since 2020.
I always say the album tittle says a lot about the music in the album. It is rare a band to give a random tittle to an album. Most of the times, it is the main idea of the themes a band decides to go over. “Affliction Vortex” would not be different. It reflects all the pain and misery there is in our sad and lonely and pathetic little planet. Moreover, all the pain and misery there is inside us. A very strong melancholy is also on the table. A kind of melancholy always found with inspired on the 1980’s gothic classics. I guess Doom Metal may be the Metal subgenre that delivers human emotions the best. I say that because there is a direct relation between the lyrics and the music. Tones help a lot as well. For instance, the tones of “Murder” give it no chance to be labeled as other Metal subgenre and they assure we are talking about Doom Metal even though Dawn of Solace sometimes are not in the same Doom Metal page.
The best thing about “Affliction Vortex” is that it keeps the spirit of Doom Metal and takes it to other instances. That makes the album pretty much more varied than the average Doom Metal albums and that’s why Dawn of Solace are a great band. Intro “Inception” takes the fan to the main idea that will be kept by “Murder.” However, “Fortress” and “Into the Light” break the expectation being faster and more complex than average. Well, Doom Metal is not known for having the most complex songs, the way I see it, it is the other way around. “Rival” is even more varied in terms of cadence and rhythm due to the effects and Modern Metal features added to it. It never came to my mind I would say this, but the effects and Modern Metal features are the things that brought up my attention to the song.
Personally, I really like the intimist mood Doom Metal deliver. I like its simplicity. The songs have mostly one-word tittles. The elaboration goes to the instrumentals and vocals. “Invitation,” for instance have that vocal duet we are getting used to. And it works pretty fine.
“Affliction Vortex” goes beyond Doom Metal and that is its greater quality. The fan who expects an average Doom Metal album will be mislead.
Dawn of Solace “Affliction Vortex” will be released on February 14th via Noble Demon.
Track Listing:
01 Inception
02 Murder
03 Fortress
04 Into the Light
05 Rival
06 Invitation
07 Dream
08 Perennial
09 Mother Earth
Watch “Fortress” official music video here:
Source: metaladdicts.com
