UMUR
"Dawn of Glory" is the second full-length studio album by Swedish heavy metal (formerly death metal) act Afflicted. The album was released through Massacre Records in 1995. It´s the successor to "Prodigal Sun" from 1992 and features one lineup change as lead vocalist Joakim Bröms has been replaced by Michael Van Der Graaf.
With the new lead vocalist comes a major change in music style, as Afflicted have shed all but one stylistic element from their previous death metal sound in favor of a traditional heavy metal sound. The one death metal trait left in the music actually has nothing to do with the compositions, but the fact that "Dawn of Glory" was recorded at Sunlight Studio with producer Tomas Skogsberg. As a result the guitar sound is similar to the guitar sound on many early 90s Swedish death metal and death´n´roll albums, and needless to say it´s quite surprising (read: Odd) to hear that distinct guitar tone on a traditional heavy metal release.
"Dawn of Glory" features 9 tracks, and a total playing time of 34:01 minutes, but honestly it feels much longer, because it´s a heavy metal release featuring next to no memorable hooks, no sing-a-long choruses, and no anthemic moments. You´ll find hard rocking heavy metal riffs, guitar leads and harmonies, and a lead vocalist who can sing heavy metal tunes, but none of it really works. Just because Van Der Graaf understands how to sing this type of music doesn´t mean he has a particularly strong voice or a passionate delivery, or that the melody lines he has to work with give him the best possible conditions to shine. In fact his job is made incredibly hard by the weak songwriting, so while I´m certainly not impressed by the vocals on this album, I´ll cut him some slack, because of the songwriting issues. It´s impossible to work with material like this.
It´s not that I´m opposed to Afflicted finding their inner heavy metal child and bringing it to the attention of the world, as I enjoy traditional heavy metal just as much as the next guy/girl, but if you´re going to change your core style as drastically as Afflicted do here, you better deliver the goods, and that´s where this whole project comes crashing down. Uninspired songwriting, weak musical performances, and an odd sounding production job aren´t exactly positive features. I have huge respect for Afflicted´s role on the late 80s/early 90s Swedish death metal scene, and I can highly recommend both their 1991 "Wanderland" demo and their "Prodigal Sun" album as some of the most interesting and semi-progressive death metal releases of that era (along with the contemporary releases by Edge of Sanity), but I´m afraid I have little positive to say about "Dawn of Glory", which is best forgotten. Even if they had released this under another monicker, it would still be a sub standard quality heavy metal release. A 2 - 2.5 star (45%) rating isn´t all wrong.
