Theophany, the brand new album from Dawn Of Ashes, is indeed an interesting listen. Industrial music for the most part, there’s nice little hints of black metal here and there, and it’s one of those albums that you’ll definitely want to keep coming back to.
Theophany gets off to a good start with introductory track Rise Of The Ancient East setting the scene well with ambient sounds and atmospheric instrumentation, and it builds things up and up until it progresses into the first full track, Tribe Of Chemosh, and when the song properly kicks in it hits you like a tonne of bricks, with a wall of guitars and noise being projected at you. Something that swiftly becomes apparent is how powerful and meaty the vocals are – the delivery of them is truly something to behold, and they pack a real punch. One of the best vocal deliveries comes in the form of later track Bleeding Perfection – and it’s a spine-tingling performance that really stands out.
The highlight of the album comes in the form of fourth track Still Born Defect (The New Breed), however. As soon as the introduction kicks in, you instantly know it’s going to be a song that will stick with you due to how striking and catchy the introduction alone is, and the song goes from strength to strength from there. The harsh vocals are juxtaposed perfectly against the industrial elements of the music and the way the drums move in sync with the synthesised lines is tremendous.
As a whole, there’s not much that can be faulted with Theophany – this is an absolutely wonderful release that goes against the norm and for that, Dawn Of Ashes should be commended.
9/10
