Dawn

Perhaps among one of the more moderately successful bands to come in on the wings of the storm of pomp and melody ushered in by Rhapsody and Dark Moor, Thy Magestie began their career playing a slightly more orchestral version of the genre. They were known for throwing in a lot of short instrumental interludes to stand in between longer songs that were loaded with quasi-progressive keyboard and shred oriented guitar soloing moments in the vain of Symphony X, basically listening like Landguard on steroids. They were also known for focusing their conceptual albums upon the stereotypical plotlines of dragon slayers and olden times, barring a departure on their previous album to delve into the history of “Jeanne d’Arc” and the 100 years war, which was otherwise still a strict album in the style that had been popular in Italy since the release of “Legendary Tales”.

Their more plainly titled lasted release “Dawn” sees the band departing from the old ways a little bit, but still taking care not to go the unfortunate route of others such as Elvenking and Labyrinth. They’ve left the subject matter of heroes and the instrumental interlude steeped format of before for something slightly more straightforward, though still undeniably symphonic and melodic in character. The subjects are a bit darker, delving into the modern concept of warfare and destruction, maintaining the heroic nature in their sound but leaving it somewhat with a more cynical set of lyrics.

Musically this has a little bit more in common with French and Swedish Power Metal rather than their more flowery and light Italian brethren. New vocalist Dario Cascio definitely has a harder edged voice that would be more indicative of bands such as Messiah’s Kiss and early Nostradameus. Particularly on songs such as “The Hunt” and the longwinded “The Legacy Suite” song series there are moments where hints of US power/thrash influences creep into his vocal lines. The riffs a smattering of progressive syncopated grooves and rapid paced patterns that wander between being melodic and thrashing rhythmic figures. The choruses definitely point towards a more fanfare, arena oriented brand of catchiness in line with German and Swedish bands from the late 90s, but the overall approach definitely tilts towards a darker, slightly Symphony X character.

There are several highlight moments on here, but only a few really great songs with absolute staying power. The opener “As You Fall” is the closest to the band’s old style, having one of those really catchy Helloween meets Iron Maiden choruses with a nice driving speed metal feel to it. Most of “The Legacy Suite” is also pretty solid, borrowing a few ideas from Magic Kingdom’s “Metallic Tragedy” and includes some really fancy guitar work, a few auspicious bass moments here and there, but avoids become as overtly neo-classical in character. There is actually a blast beat section on “To An Endless Devotion” that sounds almost like something off of Dimmu Borgir’s “Enthrone Darkness Triumphant”. “Out Of The Edge” takes things into a little bit of a Sonata Arctica direction, particularly during that driving chorus that sounds like it was inspired by a couple of different songs from “Silence”.

As far as progressive tinged, riff driven power metal with a fair amount of keyboard presence, this is a pretty solid album considering the trend towards a decline in the genre in 2008. It doesn’t quite compare to the dark emotionalism of “Through Painful Lanes” or the multifaceted charm of “Sweet Blood Theory”. but this is definitely something that does well to avoid cliché and comes off above many in the fray. If you’re a fan of the Italian scene and you were a bit let down by “The Scythe”, this may help to ease the pain a bit.