Before The Dawn - Stormbringers (2023)
Napísané: 21 Sep 2026, 09:38
Before The Dawn - Stormbringers (2023)
Year : 2023 (Napalm Records Edition)
Style : Melodic Death Metal , Gothic Metal
Country : Finland
Audio : 320 kbps + scans
Size : 94 mb
Bio:
The band was founded in 1999 by Tuomas Saukkonen as his solo project: "I played and recorded all instruments in the first demo To Desire Part 1 by on my own then for the second demo I had a friend of mine on the drums. The first line-up was gathered so that BTD could perform live. With many changes in the line up BTD entered the studio to record the MCD called Gehenna. I received couple of deal offers but nothing serious enough. BTD continued playing gigs and I kept on writing lots of new material, and the next MCD called My Darkness got very good feedback and a serious enough record deal was offered by Locomotive Music." Joined by Panu Willman, Mike Ojala, and Kimmo Nurmi, the newly formed lineup released their first full-length album, My Darkness, in 2003. It was followed up by a second album in 2004, 4:17 am. The band supported Katatonia on a Scandinavian and European tour in 2003.The Ghost followed, released in 2006.Because of the huge amount of song material written for that album, Saukkonen created another album, The Darkness, for a side-project, Dawn of Solace.With Lars and Juho as new permanent band members, the band released the next full-length album Deadlight in 2007.The single "Deadsong", released in February 2007, immediately reached #2 on Finnish Top 20 charts; for four months it remained among the Top 20 of Finnish Radio Rock. The single "Faithless" featuring Jone Nikula on the Pantera cover "Mouth for War", reached #2 on the Finland Top 20 charts for the week of 15 July 2007.During the recording sessions for the fifth studio album Soundscape of Silence, drummer Dani Miettinen dropped out; the band decided to leave the position vacant and work with session drummers for live shows (e.g. Matti Auerkallio). Right after its release at the end of October 2008, Soundscape of Silence went to the top 20 of Finnish album charts (#14).The core band members were later joined by drummer Atte Palokangas (from the band Agonizer). Atte became an official new band member in mid-2009, and Before the Dawn supported Amorphis on their Forging Europe Tour in late 2009 with a completed line-up.The anniversary EP Decade of Darkness went straight to #1 on Finnish single charts after its release in spring 2010.The music video for "End of Days" from this EP was released throughout Europe and in Japan; it shows footage from the band's 2010 shows in Asia. The European edition of this EP, released in February 2011, contains a bonus DVD with footage of the band's concert at German Summerbreeze Festival 2009.Before the Dawn in 2009: In February 2011, Tuomas Saukkonen won the Finnish Metal Award in the category "Best Instrumentalist"; Before the Dawn reached #3 in the category "Best Band".Tuomas defended this title successfully in the year 2012 as well.The new album Deathstar Rising cracked the Finnish Album Top 10 and reached #8 in first week of March 2011.In June 2011 bassist and vocalist Lars and drummer Atte left the band; Lars for personal reasons and Atte for musical reasons.On 25 January 2012 the band announced on their Facebook page that Rise of the Phoenix would be the title of their new album. It was released through Nuclear Blast Records on 27 April 2012.On 10 January 2013 through a press statement, Tuomas Saukkonen announced that he was putting Before the Dawn to rest along with his other active bands (Black Sun Aeon and RoutaSielu), ending them in order to create new project called "Wolfheart", which he will entirely focus from now on.In 2021, Before the Dawn was reformed. On 30 April, the band released the single "The Final Storm". The single was made for the Deadlight reissue which was released in 9 July 2021.On 7 September 2022 BTD announced that a new member Paavo Laapotti joins the band as a vocalist, while Tuomas takes up live drumming. Laapotti brought attention of the band during The Voice of Finland where he sang a Before the Dawn song called Deadsong. An album titled Stormbringers was released on 30 June 2023.On 7 February 2024, they announced a new EP Archaic Flame, its title song is available online. The premiere of the new EP is scheduled to be released on 8 March.It is followed by their ninth studio album, Cold Flare Eternal, released on 5 September 2025.
Album:
There’s a group of Finnish melodeath bands that put out a run of absolutely fantastic albums in the early days of AMG: Amorphis, Barren Earth, InsOmnium Gatherum, and of course Before the Dawn. This was a hugely formative time for my music taste, and all those records stick with me over a decade later. Before the Dawn’s brilliant Deathstar Rising landed at the uptempo, melodic end of the set. Huge, hooky choruses tempered by that edge of Finnish moroseness pressed all the right buttons for me. Unfortunately, it was immediately followed by turbulence, the dangerously average and ironically titled Rise of the Phoenix, and the dissolution of the band. Back in the present, they return with Stormbringers. Will this rebirth be more successful? Stormbringers certainly marks a return to the Deathstar Rising era. The choruses are so big and singalong they’re practically pop. Before the Dawn’s trademark pretty, fluid guitar leads land here in full force. On Rise of the Phoenix, these did a lot of heavy lifting covering for the lack of vocal chorus hooks. Stormbringers has a couple of wonderful moments where we get choruses with both (e.g. “Destroyer”). I’m also a huge fan of the regular use of clean/harsh vocal harmonies. If they’ve taken hints from any of their melodeath contemporaries, it’s Amorphis’ Queen of Time era pop-death, and I mean that as a high compliment. Both “Reveries” and “Downhearted” employ some Amorphisms to great effect.My biggest issue with Stormbringers is the vocals. Brilliant original clean vocalist Lars Eikind returned and put out a single with the band a couple of years ago. Come this record he’s sadly gone again, replaced with Paavo Laapotti. Laapotti was a finalist on The Voice of Finland, and he has a bunch of great metal performances on the show (it is the Finnish version after all!). Indeed, he has great performances on this record (“Destroyer,” “Divided”). And yet on quite a few of the songs (“Chaos Star,” “Reveries,” “Chains, “Downhearted”), his clean voice is missing all its resonance and depth in its higher registers. It sounds very hard and brittle and nasally. If I didn’t know it was the same guy on The Voice, I would have sworn it wasn’t. I’m confused and I genuinely don’t know what’s gone wrong here. This could be a production or a direction issue or even the writing. But every time it happens, it knocks me right out of the song.That aside, the performances here are every bit as good as you’d expect. Laapotti has a solid, meaty growl. Returning guitarist Juho Räihä handles all lead guitar work and drops one memorable melody after another. Band leader Tuomas Saukkonen takes over drums, and while rarely flashy, there’s a driving energy that’s perfect for these songs. And bassist Pyry Hanski gets some bass fills and bridges I really enjoy (“Destroyer,” “Chaos Star”). There’s a few keyboard elements by an unknown musician I love as well: the piano intro to “Divided” and Amorphisy middle of “The Dark,” and the poppy synths on “Downhearted.” The vocals are really the only significant issue with Stormbringers. There’s a couple of slightly uninspiring harsh vocal verses on the back half of the album (“Divided,” “The Dark”), which are barely worth mentioning. At its best, with tracks like the fiery “Destroyer,” poppy “Downhearted,” and doomy closer “Weight,” it stands level with Deathstar Rising in the upper echelons of very-melodic death metal. It’s great to see Before the Dawn back in action and this is an incredibly promising return. Just… sort out whatever went wrong with the vocals, please?
Line Up:
Paavo Laapotti - Vocals (lead) (2022-present) - See also: Defiled Serenity, Kuusuo, Poponjet
Juho Räihä - Guitars (lead) (2007-2013, 2021-present) - See also: Gloria Morti, I Am the Night, Riverside Syndicate, Swallow the Sun, ex-Hedonihil, ex-Hallatar (live), ex-Red Moon Architect (live), ex-Wolfheart (live)
Pyry Hanski - Bass (2011-2013, 2022-present) - See also: ...and Oceans, Gloria Morti, Mörbid Vomit, Red Moon Architect, Trollheims Grott, True Black Dawn, Tuoni, Amorphis (live), Dawn of Solace (live), Oceanwake (live), Swallow the Sun (live), ex-RoutaSielu, ex-Black Sun Aeon (live), Bügenhagen, Duo HANN, ex-Aeonian Sorrow, ex-Casket, ex-Endzeit, ex-Omnium Gatherum (live), ex-Stam1na (live), ex-Less than Three
Tuomas Saukkonen - Guitars (rhythm, acoustic) (1999-2013, 2021-present), Vocals (harsh) (1999-2013, 2021-2022), Keyboards (2004-2013), Bass (2005), Drums (2021-present) - See also: Crowen, Dawn of Solace, Wolfheart, ex-Black Sun Aeon, ex-Bonegrinder, ex-RoutaSielu, ex-The Final Harvest, ex-Jumalhämärä, ex-Rajavyöhyke
Production:
Recorded At – Deep Noise Studios
Recorded At – SoundSpiral Studio
Mixed At – SoundSpiral Studio
Mastered At – SoundSpiral Studio
Manufactured By – Baltic Disc
Artwork – VisionBlack Art
Recorded By, Composed By – Saku Moilanen
Tracklist:
01. The Dawn 01:56 instrumental
02. Destroyer 04:30
03. Reveries 04:30
04. Downhearted 04:50
05. Chains 04:51
06. Divided 05:02
07. The Dark 05:10
08. Chaos Star 04:06
09. The Weight 05:32
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
Year : 2023 (Napalm Records Edition)
Style : Melodic Death Metal , Gothic Metal
Country : Finland
Audio : 320 kbps + scans
Size : 94 mb
Bio:
The band was founded in 1999 by Tuomas Saukkonen as his solo project: "I played and recorded all instruments in the first demo To Desire Part 1 by on my own then for the second demo I had a friend of mine on the drums. The first line-up was gathered so that BTD could perform live. With many changes in the line up BTD entered the studio to record the MCD called Gehenna. I received couple of deal offers but nothing serious enough. BTD continued playing gigs and I kept on writing lots of new material, and the next MCD called My Darkness got very good feedback and a serious enough record deal was offered by Locomotive Music." Joined by Panu Willman, Mike Ojala, and Kimmo Nurmi, the newly formed lineup released their first full-length album, My Darkness, in 2003. It was followed up by a second album in 2004, 4:17 am. The band supported Katatonia on a Scandinavian and European tour in 2003.The Ghost followed, released in 2006.Because of the huge amount of song material written for that album, Saukkonen created another album, The Darkness, for a side-project, Dawn of Solace.With Lars and Juho as new permanent band members, the band released the next full-length album Deadlight in 2007.The single "Deadsong", released in February 2007, immediately reached #2 on Finnish Top 20 charts; for four months it remained among the Top 20 of Finnish Radio Rock. The single "Faithless" featuring Jone Nikula on the Pantera cover "Mouth for War", reached #2 on the Finland Top 20 charts for the week of 15 July 2007.During the recording sessions for the fifth studio album Soundscape of Silence, drummer Dani Miettinen dropped out; the band decided to leave the position vacant and work with session drummers for live shows (e.g. Matti Auerkallio). Right after its release at the end of October 2008, Soundscape of Silence went to the top 20 of Finnish album charts (#14).The core band members were later joined by drummer Atte Palokangas (from the band Agonizer). Atte became an official new band member in mid-2009, and Before the Dawn supported Amorphis on their Forging Europe Tour in late 2009 with a completed line-up.The anniversary EP Decade of Darkness went straight to #1 on Finnish single charts after its release in spring 2010.The music video for "End of Days" from this EP was released throughout Europe and in Japan; it shows footage from the band's 2010 shows in Asia. The European edition of this EP, released in February 2011, contains a bonus DVD with footage of the band's concert at German Summerbreeze Festival 2009.Before the Dawn in 2009: In February 2011, Tuomas Saukkonen won the Finnish Metal Award in the category "Best Instrumentalist"; Before the Dawn reached #3 in the category "Best Band".Tuomas defended this title successfully in the year 2012 as well.The new album Deathstar Rising cracked the Finnish Album Top 10 and reached #8 in first week of March 2011.In June 2011 bassist and vocalist Lars and drummer Atte left the band; Lars for personal reasons and Atte for musical reasons.On 25 January 2012 the band announced on their Facebook page that Rise of the Phoenix would be the title of their new album. It was released through Nuclear Blast Records on 27 April 2012.On 10 January 2013 through a press statement, Tuomas Saukkonen announced that he was putting Before the Dawn to rest along with his other active bands (Black Sun Aeon and RoutaSielu), ending them in order to create new project called "Wolfheart", which he will entirely focus from now on.In 2021, Before the Dawn was reformed. On 30 April, the band released the single "The Final Storm". The single was made for the Deadlight reissue which was released in 9 July 2021.On 7 September 2022 BTD announced that a new member Paavo Laapotti joins the band as a vocalist, while Tuomas takes up live drumming. Laapotti brought attention of the band during The Voice of Finland where he sang a Before the Dawn song called Deadsong. An album titled Stormbringers was released on 30 June 2023.On 7 February 2024, they announced a new EP Archaic Flame, its title song is available online. The premiere of the new EP is scheduled to be released on 8 March.It is followed by their ninth studio album, Cold Flare Eternal, released on 5 September 2025.
Album:
There’s a group of Finnish melodeath bands that put out a run of absolutely fantastic albums in the early days of AMG: Amorphis, Barren Earth, InsOmnium Gatherum, and of course Before the Dawn. This was a hugely formative time for my music taste, and all those records stick with me over a decade later. Before the Dawn’s brilliant Deathstar Rising landed at the uptempo, melodic end of the set. Huge, hooky choruses tempered by that edge of Finnish moroseness pressed all the right buttons for me. Unfortunately, it was immediately followed by turbulence, the dangerously average and ironically titled Rise of the Phoenix, and the dissolution of the band. Back in the present, they return with Stormbringers. Will this rebirth be more successful? Stormbringers certainly marks a return to the Deathstar Rising era. The choruses are so big and singalong they’re practically pop. Before the Dawn’s trademark pretty, fluid guitar leads land here in full force. On Rise of the Phoenix, these did a lot of heavy lifting covering for the lack of vocal chorus hooks. Stormbringers has a couple of wonderful moments where we get choruses with both (e.g. “Destroyer”). I’m also a huge fan of the regular use of clean/harsh vocal harmonies. If they’ve taken hints from any of their melodeath contemporaries, it’s Amorphis’ Queen of Time era pop-death, and I mean that as a high compliment. Both “Reveries” and “Downhearted” employ some Amorphisms to great effect.My biggest issue with Stormbringers is the vocals. Brilliant original clean vocalist Lars Eikind returned and put out a single with the band a couple of years ago. Come this record he’s sadly gone again, replaced with Paavo Laapotti. Laapotti was a finalist on The Voice of Finland, and he has a bunch of great metal performances on the show (it is the Finnish version after all!). Indeed, he has great performances on this record (“Destroyer,” “Divided”). And yet on quite a few of the songs (“Chaos Star,” “Reveries,” “Chains, “Downhearted”), his clean voice is missing all its resonance and depth in its higher registers. It sounds very hard and brittle and nasally. If I didn’t know it was the same guy on The Voice, I would have sworn it wasn’t. I’m confused and I genuinely don’t know what’s gone wrong here. This could be a production or a direction issue or even the writing. But every time it happens, it knocks me right out of the song.That aside, the performances here are every bit as good as you’d expect. Laapotti has a solid, meaty growl. Returning guitarist Juho Räihä handles all lead guitar work and drops one memorable melody after another. Band leader Tuomas Saukkonen takes over drums, and while rarely flashy, there’s a driving energy that’s perfect for these songs. And bassist Pyry Hanski gets some bass fills and bridges I really enjoy (“Destroyer,” “Chaos Star”). There’s a few keyboard elements by an unknown musician I love as well: the piano intro to “Divided” and Amorphisy middle of “The Dark,” and the poppy synths on “Downhearted.” The vocals are really the only significant issue with Stormbringers. There’s a couple of slightly uninspiring harsh vocal verses on the back half of the album (“Divided,” “The Dark”), which are barely worth mentioning. At its best, with tracks like the fiery “Destroyer,” poppy “Downhearted,” and doomy closer “Weight,” it stands level with Deathstar Rising in the upper echelons of very-melodic death metal. It’s great to see Before the Dawn back in action and this is an incredibly promising return. Just… sort out whatever went wrong with the vocals, please?
Line Up:
Paavo Laapotti - Vocals (lead) (2022-present) - See also: Defiled Serenity, Kuusuo, Poponjet
Juho Räihä - Guitars (lead) (2007-2013, 2021-present) - See also: Gloria Morti, I Am the Night, Riverside Syndicate, Swallow the Sun, ex-Hedonihil, ex-Hallatar (live), ex-Red Moon Architect (live), ex-Wolfheart (live)
Pyry Hanski - Bass (2011-2013, 2022-present) - See also: ...and Oceans, Gloria Morti, Mörbid Vomit, Red Moon Architect, Trollheims Grott, True Black Dawn, Tuoni, Amorphis (live), Dawn of Solace (live), Oceanwake (live), Swallow the Sun (live), ex-RoutaSielu, ex-Black Sun Aeon (live), Bügenhagen, Duo HANN, ex-Aeonian Sorrow, ex-Casket, ex-Endzeit, ex-Omnium Gatherum (live), ex-Stam1na (live), ex-Less than Three
Tuomas Saukkonen - Guitars (rhythm, acoustic) (1999-2013, 2021-present), Vocals (harsh) (1999-2013, 2021-2022), Keyboards (2004-2013), Bass (2005), Drums (2021-present) - See also: Crowen, Dawn of Solace, Wolfheart, ex-Black Sun Aeon, ex-Bonegrinder, ex-RoutaSielu, ex-The Final Harvest, ex-Jumalhämärä, ex-Rajavyöhyke
Production:
Recorded At – Deep Noise Studios
Recorded At – SoundSpiral Studio
Mixed At – SoundSpiral Studio
Mastered At – SoundSpiral Studio
Manufactured By – Baltic Disc
Artwork – VisionBlack Art
Recorded By, Composed By – Saku Moilanen
Tracklist:
01. The Dawn 01:56 instrumental
02. Destroyer 04:30
03. Reveries 04:30
04. Downhearted 04:50
05. Chains 04:51
06. Divided 05:02
07. The Dark 05:10
08. Chaos Star 04:06
09. The Weight 05:32
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/