By: Richard King
Album Type: Full
Length
Date Released: 24/02/2017
Label: Cruz
Del Sur Music
“Dawn Of Ages” is a
classic fusion of perfect doom and progressive metal. The music makes an
immediate and impressive connection in your mind which boldly declares that
metal mastery is at hand and that two genres are blending seamlessly together.
“Dawn Of Ages” CD//DD//LP track
listing:
1. The Fallen
2. Forever Fade
3. Into Exile
4. The Wraith
5. Beyond the Barricade
6. The Gates of Acheron
7. Sunrise (Uriah
Heep cover)
8. Wolf of Velvet Fortune (Beau Brummels cover)
9. After All (The Dead) (Black Sabbath cover)
The Review:
This
album is the culmination of the efforts of FATES WARNING’S co-founder Victor
Arduini and heavy doom legends ARGUS’ Butch Balich. In late 2013 Arduini decided to
push his musical boundaries in another direction and later recruited fellow FREEDOMS REIGN musician
Chris Judge to drum for what would become Arduini / Balich. Arduini
was in need of a vocalist when he’d met Butch Balich, who had played shows with
him.
The
resulting effort in “Dawn Of Ages” is a classic fusion
of perfect doom and progressive metal. The music makes an immediate and
impressive connection in your mind which boldly declares that metal mastery is
at hand and that two genres are blending seamlessly together. These ideas are
apparent from the album’s opening minutes.
Until
the record’s sixth track the album unfolds throughout songs which top the ten
minute mark yet never bore or meander in the slightest. It’s clear that Arduini
and company have a great deal to say musically and this venting is a thing that
can be not only easily understood but greatly appreciated. Balich’s
powerful singing blends easily with Arduini’s epic guitar work in innovative
ways, creating a melodically compelling and adventurous sonic picture. The
unity of both genres in this work exist beyond the idea of being portioned out
here and there, with only some parts sounding doomed while certain other parts
launch into progressive territories. The entirety of the record is a timeless
fusion of both aspects.
There
is something very special in particular about “Beyond The
Barricade,” the album’s fifth track. It’s the longest of a
fantastic lot at seventeen plus minutes, but the way it blasts through musical
motions is remarkable for its variety. Without lapsing obviously into genre
blending, the track manages to convey both power metal progressions and art
rock riffs in one long, doomed spectacle.
In
the vinyl version of this album, which is well worth getting, you’ll be able to
catch three awesome cover songs, being “After All (The Dead)”, Beau
Brummel’s “Wolf Of Fortune” and Uriah
Heep’s “Sunrise” which is powerful enough to be held
to the original. I think it’s in “Sunrise” that ARDUINI/BALICH begin
to reach an event-making creative apex. Balich’s vocals are perfect for this
cover and the organ work in this is stunning. With “Wolf Of Fortune”
and in their Black Sabbath cover, they bring the purest
manifestation of power doom I can imagine. In fact, the entirety of the covers
portion of this record is a great indication of just where this band may go; a
person could really hope to hear more in these particular classic veins from
them. Regardless, the templates established by these metal veterans in their
first six songs on this debut are well more than enough to build on and leave a
listener very satisfied by its conclusion.
"Dawn
Of Ages" is available here
