Sorgh på svarte vingar fløgh

The “Sorgh på svarte vingar fløgh” EP is the only Dawn recording from the four year period between their two albums ("Nær sólen gar niþer for evogher” and "Slaughtersun"). It feels like a middle ground between those records, but closer to the latter in style. There are four tracks in total, amounting to two new songs, a pointless intro (“Vya Kal”) and a decent Infernäl Mäjesty cover (“Night of the Living Dead”).

The two original songs are the main reason to listen. “Sorrow Flew on Black Wings” is a ripping melodic black metal number with rasping vocals and tremolo-picked riffs (as expected, for Dawn). “Soil of Dead Earth” is darker, harsher and more dissonant, which makes it more impressive and interesting from my perspective. The band’s songwriting has developed since the debut album (with added Emperor influences, so it seems). This new style is flatter, with the relic death metal influences replaced by an all-encompassing ‘majestic sheen’ and fewer riff changes. The band would take this approach ever further on "Slaughtersun", for better or for worse.

I can't fault the Peter Tägtgren production. The ultra-crisp, sharp sound is great and it suits what the band were trying to do (it sounds like the polar opposite of the lo-fi buzz of many second wave black metal records). The bass is not as prominent as before (having been downgraded in favour of extra layers of guitar, seemingly). The mix doesn’t suit the Infernäl Mäjesty song as well. The band homages the song but doesn't add much to what was already a metal classic, so I am left with the feeling that I should just listen to “None Shall Defy” instead.

I certainly recommend this EP to anyone who likes "Slaughtersun". The execution and production are so similar that it hits the same spot as that record. Personally, I miss the more convoluted and darker style of their debut. I feel that those earlier songs had better, denser riffs and more idiosyncratic ideas (including more interesting bass parts). I can see why the band streamlined their sound and took this path, and I can’t complain too much because it still sounds good.

Dawn is a band that consistently inspires mixed emotions in me whenever I hear them. On the one hand thier music is well-executed melodic black metal that works well on the shoulders of bands such as Dissection, while adding a more unpolished range of faster rhythms. The chord structures and melodic lines are not without thier unique twists and hooks, straying from the forulaeic 'minor-arpeggios and triades over bar chords' approach, enough to engage the listener. However, thier two full-length albums are immensely repetitive to the point I never listen to them. Sometimes the same riff is repeated over 20 times with absolutely no variation, only to be refrained later 2 more times.

This is their only release that doesn't bore me with repetition. And, as an added bonus, this is some of the most original and melodic work of thier career. Fans of classical music, specifically the Baroque period (think J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.3 for the types of interlacing melodic lines I'm talking about) will appreciate this album's many phrases and riffs that play between two melodic vioces. Gutars here wrap around each other as melodies and harmonies switch and flow between the two with an epic and powerful grandiose fashioin unique for a black metal band with no real keyboards to express. The release overall is stagnant in that the songs and the riffs could easily be interchanged with any other riff in a song, and as such there are no real emotional arcs to the songwriting. The writing here is more academic and myopic, focusing only on making each riff enjoyable instead of crafting a cohesive whole.

Despite being a rather flat release, the quality of the riffs is consistently good, and is overally definitely worth seeking out, as this EP is now well out-of-print.