29 March 2024

Dawn of Solace – Notes of Perdition

Releasedate: 20.05.2022
Label:  Noble Demon

Dawn of Solace is one of the current bands of the Finnish multi-project metal musician Tuomas Saukkonen. DoS’s first full length effort was released in 2006 titled “The Darkness”. And after a long hiatus that lasted for 14 years due to Saukkonen’s other bands, they released their 2nd LP “Waves” in 2020.

“Notes of Perdition” is the unplugged studio live recording of their 3rd album “Flames of Perdition” that’s been released this year. Only 4 tracks are chosen to be performed acoustically for this record. Mikko Heikkilä‘s unplugged vocals are the same live as the studio version of the songs. I love his voice also from his other bands (e.g.: Kaunis Kuolematon) and to me it’s the embodiment of Finnish melancholy and darkness reveling in cold melodies. Saukkonen playing acoustic on this studio live is as good as his electro-guitar performance. In my opinion, they chose the 4 most sentimental tracks out of “Flames…” to perform for this unplugged EP. Serenity was already an acoustic recording on “Flames…” so maybe that’s the reason it wasn’t included here. Also tracks on “Flames…”LP; Lead Wings and Dead Air are originally unplugged. So might as well check them out for further emotional rawness.

I can say without the dark melodic Northern riffs in the studio album, this unplugged record manages to capture the melancholy of the songs in the more frail vein. Perfect musical cooling effect for the hot summer days.

Line up:
  • Tuomas Saukkonen – guitars
  • Mikko Heikkilä – vocals

Tracklist

  1. White Noise
  2. Event Horizon
  3. Skyline
  4. Flames of Perdition

Links:

Bandcamp: https://dawnofsolace.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dawnofsolace/