Thy Majestie - Dawn review
| Band: | Thy Majestie |
| Album: | Dawn |
| Style: | Symphonic power metal |
| Release date: | September 2008 |
01. As You Fall
02. M.A.D.
03. Dawn
04. The Hunt
05. The Legacy Suite
1 - Of Pain And Disgrace
2 - To an Endless Devotion
3 - Inferis Armata
4 - Two Minutes Hate
5 - The Legacy
06. Out The Edge
07. Day Of The Changes
08. Through Heat And Fire
As with all things in life, sometimes you never know when you will be surprised. Thy Majestie are a somewhat unknown Power band from Palermo in northern Italy. Their 2002 album Hastings 1066 blew me away with its symphonic recount of the Battle Of Hastings, the war in which William of Normandy broke the battle lines of the British Isles and from there on succeeded in dominating the region. After this brilliant release, in my opinion one of the best Power records in history, the band stood on fairly rocky ground. Vocalist Dario Grillo's inability to stay with the band for a long enough period's of time left Thy Majestie constantly seeking members and producing 2005's lackluster Jeanne D'Arc. This historical retelling, while having some memorable moments, could not stand alongside the band's earlier work.
Enter self-taught vocalist Dario Cascio, newly permanent second formidable guitarist Simone Campione and excellent session-synth player Giuseppe Bondì. This line-up cements Thy Majestie's new Dawn. A theme album in a sense, dealing with depression, war, destruction of the planet and leaving behind the historical story-telling of the previous releases. The record is segmented into three chapters; Trapasso (Eng: Transfer) - Exequies (Funeral Ceremonies) Of The Formal Sphere, Rovina (Eng: Destruction or ruin) - The Neverending Night and Vendetta (Eng: Revenge) - A New Dawn. The first chapter is made up of four strong power tracks, including the instrumental track "Dawn." The second chapter is made up of the five-part Legacy Suite, where each part seamlessly moves between tracks at a great pace with highlights like "To An Endless Devotion" and "Two Minutes Hate." The Legacy Suite has some excellent symphonic breakdowns and is fairly casually followed by "Out The Edge." The last chapter of the album is made up of two tracks, "Day Of The Changes," another memorable track which takes no issue in experimenting with Göteborg drumming, and the ballad "Through Heat And Fire" using synthesised vocals and showing the groups often subtle religious influences, wondering where the messiah is.
Thy Majestie has put together a great record, a band that in all honesty is genuine and not afraid to experiment inside the power metal mould with progressive, symphonic and other influences while sticking to the establishments of the group's founding members. While not the most original record you will hear, the strength of the songs and the band's ability to stay fresh in an often dead scene makes Dawn a surprising gem.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Shadowcross | 26.05.2009
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 6
Visited by: 55 users
| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469  |
Sorry to tell you and I don't want to be unpleasant but you've made a little mistake in your review. Giuseppe Bondi is not in the band anymore. He's been replaced by a guy named Valerio Castorino. As for the album itself, I didn't listen to it, nor do I listened to any of their previous works in its entirety, but I read complaints from a few Thy Majestie fans about this album being "too much hard rock-ish". Don't know if it's true or not.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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| Susan Smeghead elite Posts: 6941  |
Too much hard rock? Hmm I didn't come to that conclusion myself but since you mentioned it can hear the likes of Jorn Lande's music in there a bit. I really enjoy this album, but feel the mix is not doing the vocalist any favors. It's mixed in such a way as to showcase all of his imperfections instead of hiding them. It doesn't take much away from the music but it prevents me from enjoying it entirely. (I'm not trying to discredit the vocalist - he seems VERY talented indeed! It's the mix that I'm not impressed with) I'm still on my first few listens though but it's a fun album and I'm definitely glad that this band is back.
---- "A life all mine Is what I choose At the end of my days" --The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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| Shadowcross The Summoner Posts: 481  |
Written by Lord_Regnier on 26.05.2009 at 22:43 Yes, he is not in the band anymore. I knew this when I was writing the review. He left I think in Nov 2008. Stop being so literal! Haha Still line-up issues  I can see why Thy Majestie fans might think that, it isn't as medieval focused or traditional PM sounding.
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| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469 |
Written by Shadowcross on 28.05.2009 at 07:43 Does it mean it's slower and more hard rock-ish, like it has been the trend for new PM albums in the last years?
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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| Shadowcross The Summoner Posts: 481 |
Written by Lord_Regnier on 28.05.2009 at 07:46 I'd say so, yeh. A bit like last years Serenity, but still has the standard off-beat drum pattern in a lot of tracks. Although I think the trend is still for the faster stuff, or at least that's what draws the crowds  It is still definitely a power album though. 
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| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469 |
Written by Shadowcross on 28.05.2009 at 08:18 Thanks. I think I get it. It seems they start to follow the trend a bit (of slowing down and becoming hard rock-ish), but are still far from being as deeply into it than bands like Edguy. My guess is they will slow down more, become more basic and simple on the next record, though I can't be sure, of course.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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