Dawnbringer: Into the Lair of the Sun God (2012)

Pure

Dawnbringer made quite the splash in 2010 with Nucleus. I reviewed the album, liking it a hell of a lot but finding fault in the flat vocal performance. I gave it a score I would later come to regret, as the record grew on me over time. Now my favorite T-shirt is my Nucleus T.

So I was eagerly anticipating the band's follow-up, Into the Lair of the Sun God, partly because I really wanted to hear it and partly to right the wrong of my previous score. I am pleased to say the band has taken no radical change of direction. This means they are still as pure a metal band as anyone, without prefix or suffix. The only deviation from the core values of riff and solo is the electric organ on "VI," but it's so well-done I can't imagine anyone finding fault in that.


Into the Lair of the Sun God is a concept album about a man's quest to kill the sun, or the sun god, or something like that. My initial impression is that it's not quite as good as its predecessor, but it's still very good. On the positive side, the vocal performance (slightly hoarse clean singing) is slightly more accomplished than last time. But it's still too flat to be of any real note. On the negative side, the songwriting isn't quite as good. Likely, that's concept album baggage, as it seems to have a narrative tone and less variety in the songs. Last time around it was a bit more adventurous, and more dynamic.

Neither improvement nor regression is all that significant. Like Nucleus, it's very strong material, with great riffs, great hooks, good solos, and a pure metal sound anyone can appreciate. I recommend especially "II," "VI," "VIII," and "IX."



The Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars

If you liked Nucleus, then you will like Sun God. Which is to say, if you like metal, you'll like Sun God. If you like concept albums, you'll probably like this even more.

Buy Into the Lair of the Sun God