SilentScream213 Probably the purest Melodic Black Metal album ever recorded. Every song is nonstop melodic tremolo riffing over unrelentingly blast beats. Despite the incredible quality of this album, it has almost no experimentation, no outside influences, and very little variety. But that makes it such an iconic triumph of the genre. Anyone want to hear the best and purest example of Meloblack, you slap this baby on.

Right from the album art, there is a certain beauty to this. That perfect shot of a dark sunset encapsulates the catchy, poignant lead guitar melodies that dominate the otherwise morose and oppressive atmosphere. One after another, songs lay down memorable riffs, and the whole thing is filled with great lyrics as well. The near-constant blast beating does get to be a bit much at times, but the drumming performance is so great I can’t really complain.

Two songs definitely steal the show a bit, those being the opener and closer. Both have some of the best lead guitar riffs of all time, and a wonderfully somber atmosphere that is dually triumphant and powerful. Perfect way to open and close the album. This one is a shining star.

UMUR "Promotional Demo 1993" is the 3rd demo release by Swedish death/black metal act Dawn. The demo was independently released in 1993. The three tracks from the demo are also featured on "The Eternal Forest - Demo Years 91-93" compilation album. Dawn were formed in 1990 and originally played death metal, but later shifted towards a more melodic oriented black metal style.

The music on "Promotional Demo 1993" is still old school Swedish death metal, but something has changed since the release of the "Apparition" demo in December 1992. A blackened touch has crept into the music, and while it´s only an element of the instrumental part of the music, the vocals by Henke Forss are now a blackened aggressive snarl, instead of the deep and largely unintelligible growling vocals featured on the first two demos. The difference is best heard on "In the Depths of My Soul" which is a track that was originally featured on "Apparition" but is included here in a re-recorded version.

The sound production is clear, and semi-professsional, and is actually pretty similar to the sound production on "Apparition". While the production is detailed enough, it´s not the most charming or suiting production for music like this. Especially the drums feature a cold clicky sound, which could have prospered from a more organic tone. When that is said the general quality of the material and the memorability of the tracks are better here than on "Apparition", the new vocal approach is also much more interesting and effectful than the monotone growling vocals on the early demos. Therefore "Promotional Demo 1993" is a good representation of the new more blackened death metal direction Dawn were heading in. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Apparition" is the 2nd demo release by Swedish death/black metal act Dawn. The demo was independently released in December 1992. The four tracks from the demo are also featured on "The Eternal Forest - Demo Years 91-93" compilation album. Dawn was formed in 1990 and originally played death metal, but later shifted towards a more melodic oriented black metal style.

The music on "Apparition" is a continuation of the old school Swedish death metal style of "Demo 1" from March 1992, but presented in a more clear and detailed semi-professional sound production. Dawn play a brutal and often blast beat loaded form of old school Swedish death metal, so in that respect they are a bit different from classic Swedish acts like Entombed and Dismember.

"Apparition" features 4 tracks and a full playing time of 20:14, and as a listener you get a much better idea of what Dawn were about at this point in time, than you did on the very short "Demo 1". "Apparition" actually features a re-recorded version of "Thirst of the Dead" from "Demo 1", which is presented here in a rather different sounding version.

So as a demo release "Apparition" successfully presents the listener and labels with the sound of Dawn. The material is a bit one-dimensional though and it´s not the most memorable death metal style that Dawn play either, and add to that the fact that the more clear sounding production actually doesn´t suit the brutal music as well as the murky and lo-fi ditto did on "Demo 1", and "Apparition" ultimately doesn´t come off as the most interesting Swedish death metal demo from that time. Still a 3 star (60%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Demo 1" is the first demo release by Swedish death/black metal act Dawn. The demo was independently released in March 1992. The two tracks from the demo are also featured on "The Eternal Forest - Demo Years 91-93" compilation album. Dawn was formed in 1990 and originally played death metal, but later shifted towards a more melodic oriented black metal style.

The music style on the two tracks on this demo is old school Swedish death metal. It´s in the more brutal and at times rather fast paced end of the old school Swedish death metal territory, but it´s still firmly rooted in that genre. "Dawn of Torture" is a very short track (1:36 minutes long) and is almost over before it´s begun, so it´s mostly on "Thirst of the Dead", where you get an idea of Dawn´s style.

The sound production is murky and pretty lo-fi, but it´s also rather charming and suits the brutal music well. With a full playing time of 6:25 minutes "Demo 1" doesn´t last long enough to give the listener a solid impression of what Dawn has to offer, and it´s not surprising that the band had to record two further demos before being signed to a label. If you view it as an isolated release, it´s still a pretty enjoyable recording though, and I´d say a 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "The Eternal Forest - Demo Years 91-93" is a compilation album by Swedish death/black metal act Dawn. The compilation was released through Century Media Records in April 2014. Dawn was formed in 1990 and "The Eternal Forest - Demo Years 91-93" features the band´s three pre-album demo releases: "Demo 1 (1992)", "Apparition (1992)", and "Promotional Demo 1993". The tracklist isn´t in chronological order, as the two tracks from "Demo 1 (1992)" are placed last on the compilation.

Dawn is probably mostly known as a melodic black metal act, which is also true for their album releases, but the material on the three demos are predominantly old school Swedish death metal to the bone (although Dawn use more blast beats than usual for the genre). The exception are the three tracks from "Promotional Demo 1993", where the vocals have changed from an unintelligible deep growling to an aggressive blackened snarl. Something which to my ears suits the music much better than the monotone growling featured on the two early demos. The instrumental part of the three tracks from "Promotional Demo 1993" is still predominantly in old school Swedish death metal territory, but black metal elements have started to creep into the band´s sound on that release.

It´s interesting to note that there are two tracks on the compilation, which were originally featured on two out of the three demos. "Thirst of the Dead" was featured on both "Demo 1 (1992)" and on "Apparition (1992)", while "In the Depths of My Soul" was featured on both "Apparition (1992)" and on "Promotional Demo 1993". The development of the band´s sound from death metal to a more blackened sound is especially interesting to follow on the latter, which sounds vastly different featuring blackened snarling vocals compared to the deep growling vocals featured on the original version.

Quality wise it´s also the three tracks from "Promotional Demo 1993" that are the most interesting on the compilation, while the early material by the band is rather one-dimensional and features few catchy hooks. It´s alright while it plays, but soon forgotten when it´s over. The sound production is clear and powerful on the material from "Apparition (1992)" and "Promotional Demo 1993", while it´s a bit more lo-fi and raw on the two tracks from "Demo 1 (1992)". The raw sounding production on the material from "Demo 1 (1992)" isn´t necessarily an issue though, as I find the early version of "Thirst of the Dead" more charming than the more professionally produced version from "Apparition (1992)".

Overall "The Eternal Forest - Demo Years 91-93" is a good overview of the early recordings by Dawn and as a compilation featuring all early material by the band it functions well. The quality of the material is a bit up and down though, and not enough of it sticks to warrant more than a 3 star (60%) rating.