adg211288 Praying to the World is the fourth full-length album from German power metal act Dawn of Destiny. It is the band’s first outing with new lead vocalist Jeanette Scherff not counting a 2011 demo. Praying to the World was released in 2012 and marks the end to their longest break between albums, having previously delivered an album each year from 2007 – 2009.

Praying to the World is one of those power metal releases where a lot more stuff is being drawn into the band’s sound rather than following any typical formula. The album can just as much be considered a progressive metal album and there are also symphonic parts to be had here and there. Some of the vocals are also growled, going against the norm for power metal as such although the use of growling in power metal is something I’ve been noticing more and more with new power metal albums. Sometimes it feels with the music it’s a case of having growls because they can have growls. Dawn of Destiny certainly aren’t alone in this but are fortunate that the growling in their music works a lot better than in has in some albums I’ve heard that have adopted the approach, although it took me a few listens to the album in order to realise that.

It doesn’t on the other hand took a few listens to know that aside from the questionable use of growling, Dawn of Destiny’s Praying to the World is well composed, catchy and often intense power metal album full of fast riffs, progressive influence aplenty and epic qualities. Jeanette Scherff has pretty much the perfect voice for the music as well, which is a major bonus, especially in those epic sections I mentioned. With a voice like that the growling isn’t really needed, which although it does work well enough is the major drawback to using it at all. My enjoyment of the album isn’t lessened an awful lot, but yes, I think you could add Dawn of Destiny to the list of bands who’ve fallen into the ‘we need growls!’ trap.

Praying to the World is a long album, about sixty-five minutes for the regular edition and about another ten minutes on that for the special edition which includes two bonus tracks. Despite the length of either version it’s not a difficult listen to get stuck into due to its highly consistent compositions and thus the tendency to throw out track after track that each have their own claims to being among the best the album has to offer. I’m not even going to attempt to sort out a few highlights or even personal favourites. It’s that good that the only true highlight is Praying to the World, the album, not the title track. Highly recommended despite my issues with the growling.

8.9/10

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org) on 06/09/2012)