“Ashes” is better still, essentially like the clean sung parts of the best Insominium songs stitched into a amazingly gloomy number.įrom there, the album weaves dismal tales of loss and pain, surely depressive but the writing is so crisp, sharp and accessible, you won’t struggle to get through it. Mikko’s vocals are pure goth glory and when teamed with Tuomas’ restrained, mournful leads, you get a potent, emotional end product that manufactures the feelz by the bucketload. There’s also elements of goth acts like To Die For and Charon. His guitar-work is weepy and morose, like the classic Finnish melodeath sound, with strong hints of Black Sun Aeon and plenty of Insomnium influences too. Opener “Lead Wings” immediately sets the somber, dreary tone Tuomas is known for.

This is a return to the sound and style that made me a fan of the man’s music and it shows he can still craft songs that brings out the sadboi in the heart of Steel.

I admit I haven’t loved much of the material Tuomas’ current project Wolfheart has released over the past few years, but I sure love what he did here. It’s still sullen sadboi melodeath with gothic elements, but now it’s essentially doomy melodeath without the death. Long-time collaborator Mikko Heikkilä ( Kaunis Kuolematon, Ex- Sinamore) is now the voice of the band, with Tuomas contributing very little in the way of harsh vocals. Some things have changed since the last time we heard Dawn of Solace material. Now in 2020 he finally delivers the followup outing titled Waves. 2006s The Darkness was a beautiful and haunting dose of Finnish gloom that made an impression, and I always wondered why he never released another album under that name. to both), I was the natural demographic for his melancholy melodeath vehicle, Dawn of Solace as well. As a big fan of Tuomas Saukkonen’s Before the Dawn and Black Sun Aeon projects (R.I.P.

Dawn of the angry