Stephen 'Dawn of Infinity' should have made IRON MAIDEN proud. Imagine blistering melodic riffs, epic feel, pounding rhythm, sing-along hooks, every good thing you can find in most Maiden songs are here. But they're more than a shallow copycat even though it's hard to find anything original inside. DARK FOREST also was influenced by RAINBOW, JUDAS PRIEST, and DEEP PURPLE, and with those lethal combos employed, the band successfully provided a thrilling environment for heavy metal fans.

'Hourglass' started well, the huge riffs will swallow you right away and so did 'The Green Knight'. Much more melodic than the previous, this is my fave track although later on, you'll find a better track on the second half. 'Seize The Day' feels patriotic and 'The Tor' has that epic/colossal touch and it's no surprise, this song ended up as the longest track here.

The only thing that denied me from giving this a higher score is that I don't think Will Lowry-Scott's vocal is as strong as the rhythm section. 'Through A Glass Darkfly', in my opinion, is the best song they made here. Came up second are 'The Stars My Destination' and 'Black Delta'. On average, the second half is slightly better but the whole album is enjoyable and there are no useless fillers around, which is a great thing.

Fans of traditional heavy metal shouldn't pass this, a great indie record and I hope they get a better recognition. 80%

Time Signature Seize the day...

Genre: heavy metal

...And here's another brilliant traditional metal release this year. Dark Forest's "Dawn of Infinity" has everything that makes for great heavy metal music - from the cover art over the lyrics to the riffs and vocals.

Drawing primarily on the sound of NWoBHM, spicing it up with elements from very early power metal, Dark Forest have committed an instant classic. A key element on this album is the heavy use of twin guitar harmonic leads, and melodic leads in general, while another is the use of galloping guitars and classic metal riffs and chord progressions. And, although this sounds like your average Iron Maiden rip-off, Dark Forest do actually not sound like Iron Maiden; they are definitely inspired by Maiden and make use of similar aesthetics, but their sound is definitely their own. In addition to the traditional metal elements, Dark Forest make use of certain elements from power metal now and then albeit in a discrete and non-blatant manner, also incorporating a couple of folk elements into their overall sound (most prominently in 'The Green Knight' and 'Under the Greenwood Tree'.

The production is fairly unpolished, and the old-school left-guitar vs. right-guitar format is used, which gives plenty of room for the bass in the middle and the booming drums, which are spread all over the mix. And, this old-school production is one of the things that I really appreciate about this release, because, not only is it charming, it is also refreshing in relation to how polished even metal music has become these days in terms of production.

Another feature of this album that deserves mention is Will Lowry-Scott's very distinct and expressive vocals which, if one were to make a point of comparison, sound like something in between Geoff Tate and Blaze Bayley (and, let it be noted that I really admire Bayley's work with Wolfsbane, so this is a positive point of comparison), and his vocal performance definitely makes a huge contribution to the overall sound of this brilliant metal album, plus it suits the larger-than-life lyrics perfectly, which range from sci-fi over fantasy and Arthurian legends to the frailty of the space-time continuum (especially if some supernatural being starts messing with it).

"Dawn of Infinity" is unpolished. It's catchy. It's melodic. It's larger than life. It's and instant classic. It's true heavy metal.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)

adg211288 Dawn of Infinity is the second album by UK metal act Dark Forest. The 2011 album is the first full-length to feature the vocals of new singer Will Lowry-Scott, who replaced the self-titled debut’s vocalist Christian Horton for the 2009 EP Defender. Horton remains with the group as a guitarist however. There are several bands with the Dark Forest moniker, so this one should not be confused with a number of black metal artists that share the name, most notably the Canadian act that released the 2006 album Aurora Borealis. This Dark Forest is planted firmly on the fine line between traditional heavy and power metal, and their love of the 80’s is very evident on Dawn of Infinity, just as it was on the 2009 debut.

Dark Forest’s debut was a good album. This is better, and Will Lowry-Scott is the main reason for that. Although Lowry-Scott was actually introduced with Defender, it is here where he really establishes his place within the band. While Christian Horton carried the debut well enough bringing in a new singer was clearly the right way to go for Dark Forest, as their retro sounding heavy/power metal sound remains, but topped off with stronger vocals that fit right into the sound the band has been going for, makes Dawn of Infinity a real treat to listen to. This is one of those albums that against all expectations just comes out of nowhere to upset the albums you’d previously considered the best of their year.

A major different between Dawn of Infinity and the self-titled debut is that the few folk influences that cropped up on the album (in the track Dark Forest for example), seem to have been dropped. This isn’t really a good or a bad thing, but it is worth noted regardless that the lack of them allows the album to rock out from start to finish and on that note the sound really grabs you with its classic riffs and melodic leads, and the songs have some great lyrical hooks to get you singing along in much the same way that a classic Iron Maiden track does, and why not, because the album has a sound that makes you think it could have been recorded at the same time. Their love of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal is pretty evident here, but there is more than a little nod towards Maiden. They’re no clone act though, even if they do wear their influences proudly on their sleeves. Dark Forest may not really bring anything new to the table, but with an album such as this that was never really the intention, and as it goes Dawn of Infinity is just as good as many albums from the era the band evidently worships.

It’s only when an album as old school as this comes along that one really realises how polished modern heavy and power metal has become. Don’t get me wrong, modern bands can produce some really amazing music, but there’s an extra level of honest passion in the music of Dark Forest that I just don’t detect in some overproduced artists music, and the release is still professionally done in that they’ve intentionally gone for this sort of sound, and nailed it perfectly.

With songs such as Hourglass, Lightyears On, The Stars My Destination (which appears to be based on the classic science fiction novel of the same name by Alfred Bester), and the amazing closer Deadly Premonition I dare to say that Dawn of Infinity is potentially the best heavy/power metal album of the year. I cannot recommend it enough.

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven, scored at 9.9/10)