Before the Dawn is gearing up for its new tour.
Arriving in autumn 2025, it will enable Tuomas Saukkonen (drums, Wolfheart, Dawn of Solace…), Juho Räihä (guitar, Gloria Morti, Swallow the Sun), Pyry Hanski (bass, …And Oceans, Gloria Morti, Red Moon Architect, ex-Aeonian Sorrow…) and Paavo Laapotti (vocals, Defiled Serenity, Kuuso) to present their ninth album, Cold Flare Eternal, released by Reaper Entertainment.
The album gets off to a gentle start with Initium, a rather mysterious introduction that gently builds the pressure before letting it flare up on Fatal Design, a rather jerky, energetic track that perfectly accommodates Paavo‘s screams, but also knows how to soften on the clear-voiced choruses. Some passages are quite raw, contrasting with the melancholy of the leads, but As Above, So Below offers us a much more playful and almost reassuring touch, where the vocalist again alternates his vocals to give the track a lively, unifying touch. We move on to the chilly Mercury Blood, which starts off gently enough, but then loses steam and becomes much wilder with its Old School roots, even oppressive on the choruses, before giving way to Stellar Effect, which revives the few gentle touches, but also the intensity of the clean vocals. The track flies by, however, joining Flame Eternal, which returns to jerky patterns for catchiness and softer choruses that benefit from ethereal keyboards, before Stronghold leaves us for a few seconds before hitting full speed, sweeping us along in its torrent of violence. The track becomes much slower and heavier, allowing for a final solo before Destination takes its place, remaining in haunting, rather minimalist tones where the clean vocals naturally take their place, but saturation is never far away, even allowing for acceleration before gently fading out. Shockwave follows with a contrasting sound, displaying a willingness to explode, but on the whole remaining fairly controlled and ultimately focused on rage, before Ad Infinitum offers us another moment of respite before unveiling a final, rather luminous drum-led rhythm to close the album.
If we already knew that Before the Dawn knows perfectly how to manage the contrast between aggressiveness and intoxicating melodies, Cold Flare Eternal proves it in the best possible way, offering a sound typical of furious melancholy.
95/100
