ABYSMAL DAWN — From Ashes (review)

ABYSMAL DAWN — From Ashes album cover Album · 2006 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"From Ashes" is the debut full-length studio album by US, California based death metal act Abysmal Dawn. The album was released through Crash Music Inc. in April 2006. When Relapse Records signed Abysmal Dawn for the release of their second full-length studio album "Programmed to Consume (2008)", they also opted to buy the rights to "From Ashes", which saw a Relapse Records reissue in 2011, featuring three bonus tracks. Abysmal Dawn was formed in late 2003 and released a well received demo in 2004 before signing to Crash Music Inc. for the release of "From Ashes".

Stylistically Abysmal Dawn deliver a technically well played type of death metal on "From Ashes". Abysmal Dawn is generally quite brutal, but they also embrace melodic moments, although that part of their sound is not a dominant feature on "From Ashes". The material is skillfully executed, and the album features a relatively well sounding production, and as such "From Ashes" is a quality death metal album. When that is said the songwriting isn´t the most interesting nor distinct sounding, which results in "From Ashes" drowning a bit in the vast number of relatively standard quality death metal releases on the market. So it´s not exactly a release where it´s easy to single out any tracks as highlights, because there are generally very few standout moments on the album. Instead it´s a very consistent album both in terms of the quality of the material and the musical style.

So at this point it´s safe to say that Abysmal Dawn lacked an original sound and more memorable songwriting to elevate their otherwise decent quality product to a higher level. It´s not always enough that you got the chops and a sound production which displays your music in a good light, if said music isn´t particularly memorable nor unique sounding. A 3.5 star (70%) rating isn´t all wrong though, as this is still a greatly entertaining quality death metal album while it plays, and for a debut release it does show promise.
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