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 Sorathian Dawn

“Radiant Terror” (Independent/Unsigned, 2023)

2023 has been a very atypical year for me in terms of the Black Metal sound I have been leaning to. Whereas I would prefer a harsher, rawer, more dissonant sound, the current year has been very rich in well-produced Black Metal, more melodic, and less “violent”, and I have been sort of tired of the Raw Black Metal scene. And in all honesty, I did start off my journey in Black Metal with a much cleaner and melodic sound, so it is not strange in any way if I feel at home with this sound.

The thing is: most of the times I feel that overly sterile, and clean Black Metal, has no essence, no spirit, no “blood and guts”, when the production makes it so clean that it loses it all. Of course, this is complete rubbish, and I should know better, but… hence enters Sorathian Dawn. The Aussie duo came in blasting and won me over quite easily. The band has been around for 14 years, and this is only their 3rd release after a full-length in 2012 (“Sorathian Dawn”) and an EP in 2019 (“Sun of the Deep”), and only a few weeks ago I got in contact with the band and their Melodic Black/Death Metal.

Sorathian Dawn has absorbed the best of what bands like Dissection and Sacramentum had to offer, gave it some bits of modernity, and you get “Radiant Terror”. I love Dissection, every release, so whenever a band is able to reproduce Jon’s sound, especially while adding something that gives the sound that extra something, I rush over to check it. “Spectral Citadel Above the Abyssal Sea” is a tremendous sound. Instrumental, guitar piece, that fits the whole aesthetic and sound of the album, melodic, and powerful, majestic, and emotional. In a way, that is the whole vibe of the record, and Dissection had that! Jon was an amazing song writer, and the way he played and built his work was amazing. Valnostt (bass, guitar, synths) and Mrak (vocals) built this dome of sound, a fearful and strong homage to the Swedish Melodic Black Death sound of the 90ies, a perfect reverential moment.

Album closure, “Sons of Sulphur”, is a banger, an absolute banger. Again, all the ingredients the band selected for the album are present in this one track. Well, the album is a massive banger, and each track is a step forward, another piece of this puzzle they called “Radiant Terror”. This is a very special release, a very solid release, and oddly enough, I do not hear people (or specialized press) talk more about it. Oh well…


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