Before The Dawn - Rise of The Phoenix (2012)

There will always be bands in music that you just does not understand why they have become as big as they are. For me, some of those bands are Sabaton, High On Fire and this band, finnish Before The Dawn. This melodic goth/death metal band has just been a big question mark for me. What is it with this band that makes them stand out? I could not find it on their last release, Deathstar Rising, and I do not think i have found it her on Rise of The Phoenix either. But first I have to admit that this album is better than the previous offering. Mostly because there is only harsh vocals here since Lars Eikind left the band last year.

The thing about Before The Dawn that really gets to me all the time is the melodies. Sure, they are beautiful and good but are they original? I have heard several bands putting out similar material. Some has made it better and some has made it worse. I would barely put this album in the better category cause even though the songs are good, the whole experience is just one big mash up. The songs in Rise of The Phoenix does not do much to stand out against the others. Everything goes around in the same tempo and the structure of the songs are just changed slightly. It gets quite boring from time to time.

The only thing that is saving Rise of The Phoenix from being some what of a disaster is that the album has no lows. Let us do the math. 9 x good, but not memorable, songs = a good, but not memorable, album while 4 x bad songs + 5 x great songs = a good album where you skip some of the tracks. So the consistency of Before The Dawn is a savior for the band. I'd rather have an album filled with songs that I am okay with instead of a album with fillers. It makes a greater wholeness to the album itself. But if you would put a gun on my head and demand an answer to which song you should listen to on this album I would pick "Cross To Bear" Since it is the only song that is some what memorable.

So yeah, Rise of The Phoenix definetely beats its predecessor but it doesn't convince me that Before The Dawn is a band that I should look more into. I hope that the band continue on this road cause they may be heading for something really good. But so far I am unimpressed.

Songs worthy of recognition: Cross To Bear, Perfect Storm

Rating: 6,5/10 Eclipses