Here we have eight tracks of death metal that leans towards the melodic Swedish sound. It's a little more aggressive than most of that stuff, and the vocals switch over to growls from the snarling screams at times as well, so I'm not willing to just toss it off as another Swedish sounding affair, but calling it what it is - much of the riffing does have ties to that current phase, so there's a decent amount of alternate picked riffing, hammer-on/pull-off runs (not those of the metalcore variety), and lightly thrashy playing that tends to jump over to heavier and more traditional death metal in many instances. The riffs and the performances are both competent, and when they fall back on tremolo picking runs (which isn't all that often) they manage alright, so this is actually a pretty decent record. It does lack overall creativity, and I'm not really taken by many of the songs, but there are some cool elements. The acoustic breaks, for example, while not terribly innovative, are pretty damn slick, and the melodic lead runs that appear are promising as well - most notably in "Last Requiem for the Storm" as things build back into dissonant chord phrasings and a semi Maiden-esque run. The solos do need to possess a little more fluidity in the delivery, but most of the performances elsewhere are better off, and on occasion the drummer catches my attention with nice fills and whatnot. The instrumental "Euphony to the Night-Treader" reminds me a lot of Eucharist with the subtle groove of its chord progressions and phrasings, which is something I'd like to hear more often on this release. The next time something really grabs my attention is at the start of "The Breath that Enkindles Insurrection", where the melodies are more energetic and forceful. The intense vocal layering can get irritating and the tremolo picking is less efficient in this one, but there are promising points. This does, however, bring to mind one of the key setbacks with this release: The songs are way too long. At the end of the day this band is pretty standard, and what creativity they do employ, while necessary and effective, is still rather low-key. Therefore, with songs averaging a little over six minutes each (a few topping seven), the compositions don't hold your interest throughout. There are definitely some throwaway riffs, and too much of the general playing is similar, while the band's strengths aren't always the focal point. "Flight from Serpent Wings" is a brief acoustic instrumental that's damn well executed, and the layering is excellent, so they really ought to work more with taking that kind of orchestrated guitar work and weaving it into the songs with more logical transitions and song structures, because that could inch them out ahead of a lot of their contemporaries. The longest song, "Triumphs of a Dying Breed", is actually my favorite because even though it drags they do use their most consistently energetic riffs, so... even if it's the most paint-by-numbers melodic Swedish death metal track herein, it's still well written. The recording is about what you'd expect from something like this in that it has some weak spots, but it's a little crisper and more efficient than most debuts coming from smaller labels. The drums do sound a little flimsier than the guitars, and the bass is hard to make out in the mix, but the guitars are the most important element and they sound pretty good. I don't mind the vocals but something's perhaps a little dry about them (and, okay, by the end of the disc some of the vocal layering drives me nuts and sounds like overdramatic Cradle of Filth nonsense - though not as shrill, so thanks for that), similar to the percussion, so it's one of those things where everything is very easily listenable and the sound doesn't hold them back, but a more cohesive mix could help unify the instruments in order to beef things up. The cover art is spectacular on this thing. I wish the rest of the layout was as solid, but it all looks competent, and the cover painting is slick as fuck and totally professional, so I'm loving that shit. The lyrics, while sort of arty and dramatic, are better than average as well. The content's much longer than usual and doesn't repeat often, keeping things abstract and hitting on strong passages pretty regularly: "May our intentions be clear we plead for a concord to redeem us from ourselves and certain dissolution, these thoughts will slice and cut as they strike at the heart of our condemning comforts and strongest convictions..." There are cool things about this record and I love the cover art, so I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt, but my tolerance for the mass proliferation of this style is wearing thin, so like all of these other groups, Accursed Dawn needs to push themselves for more originality and start separating themselves from the pack.
[Pop Faction]
Running time - 43:47, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: Flight from Serpent Wings, Triumphs of a Dying Breed]
Pop Faction - http://www.popfaction.com
