Review: True Black Dawn “Come The Colorless Dawn” (by Bart Tomaszewski)

True Black Dawn “Come The Colorless Dawn”
W.T.C. Productions

It’s about time for veterans of Finnish Black Metal scene. Well, maybe we should even use word “legend” here. The band under several names exists since 1992. As I see changes of names was connected with movements – first from Nurmo to Vaasa and then from Vaasa to Helsinki, some changes of line-up (what is logically when we’ll look where’s Nurmo and Vaasa, and Helsinki are located) and in one case change of musical style. That’s truth that we can find some differences between BLACK DAWN (Vaasa period) and TRUE BLACK DAWN, but their rather subtle. But when we’re talking about NOCTURNAL FEAST and BLACK DAWN this difference is quite big. Anyway, discography of the TRUE BLACK DAWN isn’t very impressive (even if we’ll count releases of N.F. and B.D. here – but even in this case it was mostly demos). Actually “Come the Colorless Dawn” is exclusively their second release which to boot saw the dark of night after… 11 years. The previous one was split with two other Finnish Black Metal bands – O & ENOCHIAN CRESCENT entitled “O.B.C.” where our heroes participated sublimely with their seven songs, other ones got simply three each.

OK, enough about history! Let’s talk about present times and present release. “Come the Colorless Dawn” is full-length where we have eleven songs of pure satanic Black Metal. But you must know that here this term means this “atmospheric” one. I wrote especially word atmospheric in quotation marks coz it doesn’t mean music with ubiquitous keyboards, violin and stuff like that! It means this satanic, obscure, dark… atmosphere. These five guys (of course hidden under pseudonyms) really know how to create it with using as minimal devices as it’s needful. Of course for someone who knows at least a little about technique of playing guitar or drums (we hear these instruments the best) will notice that it’s not so very easy to play this and that there really happens a lot in this music. Well, I don’t see anything strange in that. They’re all experienced or even very experienced musicians. So we have here easy, sometimes even poor (what DOESN’T mean: “churlish” or “primitive”) riffs. However, in general we have here mostly middle or even low tempos. Sometimes VnoM bomb us with his drums what can, but doesn’t must, be some remains of the fact that he somewhere in past played Death Metal.  Vocal is of course typical Black Metal harsh. Typical in meaning of manner of singing, not in meaning that vocalist just screams whole the time in the same monotonous way! Wrath presents really high abilities on this field. But it just can’t be opposite in case of someone who do it almost 25 years, or what?!?

Everyone who likes at least a little Black Metal should get to know closer this album!!! I hope so I’ll don’t have to wait for another album of this band next eleven years, anyway!!!

(c) Bart Tomaszewski (SEPPULCROS PROD)