Dawn of Tears - Dark Chamber Litanies

From Spain comes Dawn of Tears with a new EP called ‘Dark Chamber Litanies’, which follows an unheard full-length album entitled ‘Descent’ released two years ago. The accompanying press release cites Dark Tranquillity as their major influence, though you can hear other names like Cradle of Filth and Sentenced in their impassioned blend of death and black metal as well. See, album opener ‘Cadent Beating’ sounds like the sort of thing that Cradle of Filth could have written in their early days. The dark orchestral flourishes, the guitar harmonies woven between harsh riffs, the caustic rasps and shrieks ala ‘midget filth’ and the deep narrated passages are all unequivocally redolent of the Brits’ gothic-tinged black-metal sound. However, on the following theme ‘Since They’re Gone’, Dawn of Tears progress into a more death-ly direction hinting at the mid-period of Sentenced, though not as depressive or imaginative as the Finns. The third theme, ‘Winds of Despair’, starts with a fast and harsh black-metal pace, but soon evolves into a gentler style not too far removed from Dark Tranquillity’s softer moments. The influences of Dawn of Tears are well diversified, and although the end result from their convergence is for the most part very likeable, at times it seems to be poorly articulated.
Ultimately, if Dawn of Tears really want to stand out from the crowd, maybe more effort and innovation are required from them to come up with some truly defining moments. (6/10)

Band info: www.myspace.com/dawnoftears or www.luggamusic.com