Rating: 5.5/10
Release: 9 October 2013
Label: Independent

Genres. They stay pretty difficult. Perpetual Dawn is an, as mentioned by themselves ‘melodic folk/black metal’ with a lot of influences from different genres. ‘Pale blue skies’, the first EP of this Australian one-man-project is indeed pretty melodic, and pretty folk, but it isn’t blackmetal at all.

No, Perpetual Dawn is more powermetal, mixed with folk, like we know from Elvenking. OK, it sounds a bit harsher, and the grunted vocals are pretty brutal, but blackmetal? I’d never call it like that.

Immediately from the opener ‘Pale blue skies burn first’, you’re overwhelmed by a fat layer of keyboard-samples. It sets the mood, ideally for an intro. However, the keys are the main component throughout all the songs, removing all the sharp edges of the music. It sounds like a mushy mix, where everything is engulfed by the mighty sound of the keys. The result of this is that it all sounds pretty dull and powerless. Also the vocals doesn’t fit well with this music, although they’re pretty varied. It sounds like they stand completely separated from the rest of the instruments.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as bad as it seems. ‘Pale blue skies’ has a few strong compositions, original ideas and catchy melodies. Too bad the bad production ruins everything. It’s a shame, it had some potential.

Tracklist

1. Pale Blue Skies Burn First 2:05
2. Moment of Apprehension 4:21
3. Submerged 5:48
4. Insomnia 3:02
5. Disclosure (and loss) 3:27
6. Perpetual Dawn 7:22