Band:	Dawn Of Ashes
Album:	Genocide Chapters
Style:	Melodic black metal
Release date:	September 2010

01. Conjuration Of The Maskim's Black Blood
02. Nyarlathotep's Children Of The Void
03. Seething The Flesh In The River Of Phlegethon
04. Transformation Within Fictional Mutation
05. The Ancient Draining Room
06. Reanimation Of The Dark Ages
07. London's Anthem For The Pleasure Of Mutilation
08. Sacrilegious Reflection
09. God-Like Demon
10. Carnal Consummation In The Empty Space
11. Epilogue - Beginning Of The End

After two blood-stained in terms of atmosphere and highly-acclaimed aggro-industrial/dark electro releases, In The Acts Of Violence and The Crypt Injection, three years after the second one Dawn Of Ashes managed to return with their third full-length to date, Genocide Chapters. One very natural question would be why am I reviewing this here on a metal site, well, the answer is simple, the band changed chapter and they are more metal than you would ever imagine. The only thing that connects them with their recent past is the horrific image, although more apocalyptic this time, and the ominous aesthetic. Everything else flows in utterly guitar-driven standards and the band moves in melodic death/black metal soundscapes with great production.

Kristof Bathory remains the main figure of the band and alongside keyboardist Bahemoth, who was present as well on the other releases of the band, the band marches onto the future with a new line-up so as to support the new sound era of Dawn Of Ashes. Henceforth, Valkar Kael performs the guitars, Othuum the bass lines and Orias the drumming. And to tell the truth, the band blends wonderfully together as if they were playing together for quite some time. Also, had Genocide Chapters been mediocre, I'd understand it, you can't just wake up one day and make drastic changes in your sound, but this malevolent US act made it flow naturally!

On the previous works we had a glimpse of Kristof's capabilities with his distorted screams/recites, this time though he proves what a gifted extreme vocalist he is due to the music the band cherished. You will find a variety of atrocious lines ranging from horrid grunts or threatening recites/whispers to injecting shrieks, without forgetting his past, henceforth offering a more core-ish accent at times. The keyboards do not appear all the time, they float like a veil above the music enough times though, evoking a scenery of guilt through devoutness, offering some really interesting and slightly more complex passages often whereas some FX and samples adorn psychotically the soundscape. The guitar riffing is powerful with interesting soloing moments, crafting a schism in the heart of mankind as the sonic wave the rhythm section creates turns to nuclear arrows.

Of course you will find generic references from bands moving in the melodic death/black metal scene, it's unavoidable, yet if you know the past of the band you will notice they took the basic idea, aborted the electronics and inserted the womb a full metal embryo, giving birth to Genocide Chapters. As for highlights, it's easy to mention some. The bombastic and harassing opener "Conjuration Of The Maskim's Black Blood" and "The Ancient Draining Door", the single "Seething The Flesh In The River Of Phlegethon", the nightmarish "Nyarlathotep's Children Of The Void", the devouring "Carnal Consumation In The Empty Space" and the ending opus which brings forth agonising ambiances from the recent past, "Epilogue – Beginning Of The End". Yet, before concluding I'd like to state that Genocide Chapters flows as one, after all, its duration is around 43 minutes, keeping the interest of the listener at high levels, vanquishing the term "boredom".

If you're searching for some very interesting melodic death/black metal new-comers then Dawn Of Ashes won't dissapoint you, on the contrary, they will even make you listen to their previous works (which, by the way, are remarkable) and who knows, maybe you'll get to like dark electro. Genocide Chapters is a very good metal debut album for the band, they still have to master their sound, only time will tell. “Seething the flesh!”

PS.
US/Canadian fans of Dimmu Borgir will get to see Dawn Of Ashes supporting them in their North American tour this November/December.