Dawn

Nær sólen gar niþer for evogher (1994)

Nær sólen gar niþer for evogher is a fairly hard album to critique in my opinion because it relies on being in a certain mood to feel its full effects. It uses a similar consonant melodic approach to bands like Dissection and Sacramentum, and there are also some traces of At The Gates’ style on With Fear I Kiss The Burning Darkness. However, more so than these bands it is super-consistent in its melodic style – it is almost purely melodic, barely anything in the way of rhythmic action (or rock music style, for that matter) and this results in a certain smoothness or flow that is present throughout the entire recording. There are no real highlight moments or major notable shifts in sound or structure, the tempo does change here or there of course, but there is not anything even remotely approaching abruptness. And for many listeners this may be a barrier – this is not really something you can put on in the background, the narrative song-writing approach of the album lends itself to great subtlety and the true melodic progression does take undivided concentration to unearth in full. In this respect, each song has two or three larger melodic ideas, and there are variations on each that flow in and out of each other over the course of the song.

Also notable is the lack of deeper bass tones – the bassist can be heard softly in the background, but it meshes in melodically with the guitar playing.  As a result Dawn’s sound, whilst not being a trebly fuzz, lends itself exclusively to the mid and higher ranges of melody. Although, most of this album is based in the minor key, there is a kind of pale, glistening light to the sound – and part of its charm lies in the ambiguity of whether this is a Dawn (a new beginning) or Dusk (finality or closure as alluded to in the rough English translation of the album name – ‘When the sun goes down forever’).  When you find the flow of this album it exudes sensations of utter captivation and is well worth the effort in that respect.