Dawnbringer - Nucleus

Release Date: September 17, 2010
Label: Profound Lore 

TRACK LISTING

1.  So Much For Sleep
2.  You Know Me
3.  The Devil
4.  Swing Hard
5.  Cataract
6.  Like An Earthquake
7.  All I See
8.  Old Wizard
9  .Pendulum

Total playing time:  40:56

October 8, 2010

Reviewer: Chris

Hometown boys (for me, anyway) Dawnbringer serve up a 40-minute death trip titled Nucleus­, a tempestuous and galloping journey into the dark realms of Chicago’s underground scene. This city needs more good bands to represent us and Dawnbringer is one of the few that work well enough to stake that claim.

Encyclopedia Metallum says Dawnbringer is a death metal band, but I seriously don’t hear your traditional death metal vibe; the music is clearly structured well throughout without gaps and roller-coaster drop offs in riff management. I’d honestly call these guys some technical metal ala Nevermore of Watchtower, though the former is certainly a more tangible comparison. I enjoy the heavy battering of the music that really relies on a precision-like assemblage of songs and chord placement. “The Devil” harkens back to the 80’s with its Judas Priest feel, though much speedier and overly-intricate. The time-changes are also nothing short of incredible, giving it added flavor amidst such disheveled tracks. What might first appear clustered and frenzied is really sound and chaotic organization.

The vocals are a bit low in my mix here and there, but when clear they are pretty impressive; there’s nothing extra special about them, but far from bad. The music is the true star here, pretty much running rampant over everything at one hundred miles an hour. From slow acoustic parts that merge cautiously into a familiar crunch with literal ease (“Swing Hard”) to just flat-out speed for metal’s sake (“All I See”) Nucleus is a fastidious jaunt into the very detailed blueprint that is this album. At times bordering on a raw, nearly ambient/black feel with the guitars, as evident in “Cataract,” the wide spectrum that is covered here in such a short period of one album is pretty impressive. “Like an Earthquake” is as ugly, stripped down as it gets without giving itself completely over to that black metal tone, all the while retaining all of the intricacies of a very exacting sound.

My favorite track on this release is “Like an Earthquake” simply due to the great arrangement that both the vocal melody and music find shared compliance with the genuine idea without losing the pattern along the way. You literally get the feel of being shaken and disrupted when the chorus riff just batters you into a caustic submission.

As a whole this album is one you can really enjoy without getting too cerebral or serious about it. While captivating and above-board more than most of the genre, it’s simplistic enough to just have some unabridged fun banging your weary head.               

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