| CD REVIEW New Dawn |
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Band : New Dawn This Birmingham based British quartet took from the members' varied influences “from all areas of music” (that how they put it 'emselves) to create a unique blend of modern Heavy Rock/ Alternative Metal, which sees vicious but catchy riffs coupled with melodic vocal lines, sing-along choruses, and beat-downs to tear your face off! Formed in 2007, guitarist/ backing singer Christian Jones, bassist Nick “Sloth” Bates, drummer/ percussionist Ian Langford, and their first singer Dean set about showing audiences that they meant business, and an early demo-EP was recorded to attract attention from concert promoters and local venues alike. 2008 saw the band reach the regional semi-finals of the Surface Unsigned band contest, and play at the Burwood Wakes festival. Later that same year the band started making preparations to enter the studio to record this, their debut album, and then suddenly their previous singer quit! New frontman Craig Silvester was introduced into the band in February 2009, and after plenty of rehearsals the band was finally able to start recording their album with one Guy Sweenie. With recordings finished around the end of the year (process apparently took 9 months), ND threw itself back upon the live circuit, which during 2010 saw them sail away from British shores to play at Germany's Rock For Friends, into which they were selected to represent the UK. Locally, the band again made big eyes pop out during a second appearance at Burwood Wakes, resulting in an ever-growing fanbase. Further successes in 2010 include the band's participation to the TBFM battle of the bands contest and a local Staffordshire contest. Finally, the band got listed in the Top 35 of bands from all over Europe for the i-Mego Top-Trakz contest. More importantly, the band eventually signed a deal with Casket Music/ Copro Records for the distribution of their album. In spite of the many influences the band claims to have, the outcome is really quite homogenous, with the two instrumentals as exceptions. Then again, the mellow keyboard/ percussion album opening “Metallurgy” was a collaboration between the band's drummer, Guy Sweenie (who's credited for giving the band valuable advice on other tracks as well – possibly added the keyboards used here and there too), and his brother Fred. Second instrumental “Release Your Life” is another calm one, and a truly beautiful “solo” for guitar and bass. Weirdly enough, no tracks off the album are posted at the band's website (www.) myspace.com/newdawnsounds. The guys did however post the one track titled “Desire”, probably a first of newly recorded songs (they returned to the studio in January)...and a live video of a song of which I didn't catch the title. The same stuff can be found at the band's facebook page, along with Unite's title track and a song called “Hold Your Life”. Enough material to get acquainted with the band's material. You'll find the backing singer contributing in several vocal modes, from clean over screamed, to grunted! The lead singer has indeed got a nice clean and strong voice, occasionally with a slightly nasal touch. Overall, this is definitely a band worth listening to, as their lyrics also hold some of life's truths. 88/100 Tony. |