FRENZY FIRE
METAL & ROCK REVIEWS
IX
|
FRENZY FIRE |
||||||
|
METAL & ROCK REVIEWS |
||||||
| HOME | ||||||
| REVIEWS | ||||||
| ARTISTS | ||||||
| UPCOMING | ||||||
| LINKS | ||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
IX |
||||||
| Dawn Of Destiny are a power metal band from Germany formed in 2005, releasing nine albums during a nigh on two decade career to date - with 2024's 'IX', the bands ninth... | ||||||
| ...featuring twelve songs across a fifty five minute run time! Two years ago the band took my breath away when their eighth album 'Of Silence' landed on my radar - the cinematic symphonic power metal majesty on show was just superb. And now Dawn Of Destiny return to cause me even more breathing issues, 'IX' building upon what 'Of Silence' achieved, the German metallers performing at the top of their game to deliver more elegant, jaw dropping power metal. The bands line-up remains unchanged, consisting of lead vocalist Jeanette Scherff, bass player/vocalist Jens Faber (Legions Of The Night), guitarist Veith Offenbacher (Destiny), keyboard player Dirk Raczkiewicz, and drummer Philipp Bock (Legions Of The Night)... | ||||||
| ...the album striding into life with the six minute long opener 'Mortem Vidi'. And a level of elegance, tension and chill higher than the fucking sky, the band shuddering the ground with a kinda industrial come power metal foot stomp! The bombastic oomph here is all conquering, every wall and building in Bochum wobbling under the sheer weight of metal pouring outta 'Mortem Vidi' - Dawn Of Destiny hitting the accelerator hard to roar down the autobahn at full throttle with 'A Child's Hand'. Yet none of the elegance from the previous song is lost, the air reverberating with the classic European power metal sound, the albums opening brace coming at listeners from two distinctly different areas of metal territory! And at an even quicker pace, 'Alive' is a phenomenal head banger, every mosh pit around the world turning into a sea of frenzied head banging maniacs - and that chorus too! Sing a long-able to the max - "These are the mountains to climb, These are the sins we denied, Our hearts are still frozen, The life we have chosen, Destroys all surroundings alive". Simply sensational stuff from the German metallers. | ||||||
| Just a quarter of the way through 'IX' and are Dawn Of Destiny surging into contention for the Album Of The Year title? Damn right they are - the seven minute long 'Crown Of Creation' maintaining the incredible majesty of the album, the band striding tall and very proud right through the heart of power metal territory! I've only just picked my jaw up from the floor after listening to the band's previous album two years ago - 'IX' promptly dropping it straight back to the floor with a resounding thud! Just what the band have been feeding on is anyone's guess, but boy the energy, vim and vigour is right off the top shelf, 'Abandoned' rocketing off at high velocity, the sound of foot to the floor power metal a fucking glorious one! However, as 'Abandoned' progresses, the band drop a gear, only to pick it up over the chorus break - a chorus break that yet again is of the highly infectious and sing a long variety! The album began good and has just got gooder, err, um, gooder! Sounds right but don't look right! Hang on a mo', I'll be right back! Okay, after a brief internet search, it would appear "the correct superlative form of "good" is "better", and while "gooder" may be used informally or humorously in some contexts, it is considered non-standard and not recognised in formal writing". But as regular readers must know by now, my writing is anything but formal and often follows a non-standard path, so I'm gonna stick with "the album began good and has just got gooder" and say a big fuck you to the worlds grammar pedants! | ||||||
| I tell ya readers, it's a constant battle keeping these pedants in their corner, it's an ongoing fight that I'm gonna keep fighting and maybe, just maybe, one day finally win - 'IX' thundering on with the mid tempo 'Keep Fighting'. And a punchy nature worthy of such a title, Dawn Of Destiny delivering a glorious guitar tone so synonymous with the iconic NWOBHM, the band bringing forward a forty year old sound and blending it with the bands modern day power metal remit. Is there nothing this band can't turn their hands to? It would appear not, the album moving into ballad territory with immense serenity courtesy of 'Wings', every listener everywhere invited to raise lighters high in the air and sway gently from side to side. The mellowness here is incredible, the soaring vocals of Scherff incredibler, err incredibbler, err, ahem, I mean even more incredible as 'Wings' floats effortlessly on by. The pulsating roar of heavy, power metal makes its presence felt as 'Better Hold Me Tight' bounds into view with a mouth watering guitar riff to make every listeners knees go weak - I know mine have, along with my heart turning to mush as Scherff asks (or maybe tells) me to hold her tight! Well I can dream can't I? And with a heavier, highly anthemic feel, 'For All The Pain' is a mighty mid tempo march of hard hitting heavy metal that's gonna rattle teeth and shake bones to make every listener, fan and follower sound like a tube of Smarties being vigorously shook! Or is that shaken! If only there was a grammar pedant reading this eh! | ||||||
| And as 'IX' enters its fourth and final quarter, the intensity of the album remains sky fucking high, Dawn Of Destiny shuddering the ground with immense force as 'Through This Nightmare' stomps into sight, the band roaring through the gears to switch the songs identity as 'Through This Nightmare' takes on the mantle of a tempo changing pace changing cacophony of staggering heavy come power metal! Floored by the bands previous album, the German metallers have floored me again, the buzzing guitar tone of the NWOBHM making a juicy return with 'I Live For Your Pain', the energy and drive increasing tenfold as the band press the pedal firmly to the metal and storm down the autobahn once more! Even the local verkehrspolizei don't bother chasing the Bochum five-piece, Dawn Of Destiny always able to shift into a higher gear to disappear off into the distance! And when I say distance, I mean upwards and into outer space, the band once again delivering an out of this world performance - a performance that comes to an end with the immensely elegant hymn-like swagger of 'You Won't Be There', keyboards leading the way as the band stride purposefully through ballad territory to bring the curtain down on a sensational power metal album. | ||||||
| Overall, an elegant and majestic march of pace and power, 'IX' is a tremendous album of captivating power metal pomp. | ||||||
| Review by Iron Mathew Collins | ||||||
| Reviewed for Metal-Roos | ||||||
| Other Reviews | ||||||
|
|
||||||
| Dawn Of Destiny | ||||||
| "an incredibly infectious and entertaining journey, full of surprises, twists and turns, 'Of Silence' is a superb album" Read Review | ||||||
| Top | ||||||