Roughly three years after their debut EP, Philadelphia's New Dawn Fades—featuring George Chamberlin (Ritual Earth, Autumn, etc.) on vocals/guitar—is back with a complete four-piece lineup for their first full-length outing. I had referred to the band's initial offering as "sludgy-yet-propulsive 'stoner rock' that very much brings to mind Deliverance era C.O.C.," but while the overall vibe herein remains similar, they're certainly coming even more into their own. (And, to be clear, I've always hated the term "stoner rock," I just don't know that there's a better phrase to quickly encapsulate the general aesthetic of this sound? Maybe I'm lazy!?)
The singing has its own character such that that alone helps to separate New Dawn Fades from the "standard fare," but the songwriting has grown more diverse as well. Opener "Villains Come to Light" bursts forth with an almost thrashy energy at the start! There's a lightly doomy snarl to some of the riffing that makes me think of a denser, nastier take on classic Danzig, for example—diving deeper in "Souls," which borders on Electric Wizard territory. There are even some breakdown rhythms that damn near have a driving hardcore type of feel. "Leave My Loneliness Unbroken" then explores some darker melodic elements that truly stand out (these return toward the end of closer "New Evil").
The material is well-produced and mixed, too. The vocals could easily tend to lean too far out front, but are nicely placed just barely at the fore. The guitar tone is more than adequately heavy and superbly textured, but not overly massive, thus there's room for the bass to peak through; while the percussion sounds fairly crisp and natural. The way the sound breathes is part of what leans it toward more of a rockin' swagger as opposed to the sinister doom-tinged side—even the couple of tracks from the debut that have been re-recorded herein possess a slightly different edge that makes sense given the band's development.
Cool and aesthetically appropriate cover art adorns the LP sleeve; with a double-sided, full-color insert containing a photo collage on one side and lyrics/credits on the other. Limited to 100 copies on a semi-transparent swirl of "sea blue smoke" vinyl, which perfectly matches the appearance of the colors behind the skull on the cover.
Eight songs in about 40 minutes, and this is another winner. Seems like the group has been pickin' up some steam out there, and they still deserve more. Any fan of this particular corner of the genre would be wise to seek Lores out, in one form or another...
Get It
- Bandcamp (LP, mp3)
- Apple Music (stream)
- YouTube (stream)
