Review of Evermoore - Dawn of Decay

Give these young Swedes two more years and I think they will have matured enough to develop their authentic take on power metal to the point of warranting serious interest. As it stands, Dawn of Decay, the group’s fifth demo in three years, impresses with pummeling riffs courtesy Alexander Timander and Jakob Ollander, who, along with vocalist Anna Snell, will be most responsible for carrying Evermoore to the forefront.

Snell graces the demo with smooth, accented curves that, for the most part, suit the music. There are moments when she sounds better suited for gothic rather than power metal, but to be fair, the music itself isn’t entirely appropriately described as power metal either. Slower, more somber elements do creep into every song, which contributes to a greater diversity than the power metal tag would suggest. “Progeny of Decay” is the strongest of the six tracks offered, incorporating more of the atmospheric elements inherent in the group’s sound while maintaining a sense of grittiness in the riffs. While Snell also sounds more comfortable here than on any other song, the defining layer that makes “Progeny of Decay” stand out is the main riff and the chorus, the former reminding me a bit of Evergrey circa The Inner Circle. It’s important to note that Evermoore aren’t exactly a traditional power band. Don’t expect to hear early Blind Guardian.

The growling vocals neither detract from nor help any of the songs, rendering them entirely unnecessary, but I do see a possibility for them to be incorporated more seamlessly in to the Evermoore sound on future releases. However, they should be used only if the intent is to make a song sound more cohesive or to match the intensity of the riffs. They should not be used if the sole aim is to make the group more noteworthy, as too many groups are using grating vocals in an attempt to “make noise.” There is such a thing as negative attention.

While the group must certainly be tiring of reading and hearing about how young they are, the simple fact that they ARE so young (or merely look it) would suggest that they have many successful years ahead of them. Evermoore intend to make metal interesting again for those who bailed from the power ship long ago, and I don’t see why more labels won’t come knocking as soon as they hear the promise inherent in Dawn of Decay.

Release Details

Evermoore

Dawn of Decay

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