Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Before the Dawn - Soundscape of Silence (2008)

As I try to get back in touch with music from the more epic and melodic metal bands I've been familiar is, Before the Dawn is another one of those bands. Recently, the band reformed along with his side-project Dawn of Solace after founder Tuomas Saukkonen spent some time with his own different band Wolfheart. Now let's look back at one of the albums from the initial run of Before the Dawn...

Soundscape of Silence continues the Dark Tranquillity-esque gothic melodeath sound that reached its height in the previous album Deadlight. The riffs, bass, and vocals fit in the cold production. Honestly, I prefer Saukkonen's harsh vocals more than the clean singing by bassist Lars Eikind. Saukkonen can really pull off his distinct rough voice.

"Dying Sun" would've been a good song, but Eikind's cleans sound awkward and more overly dramatic than melancholic. Deathstar Rising would have more of that before thankfully being absent in Rise of the Phoenix. Next song "Exile" continues that issue, sounding redundant when the guitar leads do their melodic work. "Silence" has better melodic riffing that isn't too far off from The Haunted and even 36 Crazyfists. "Dead Reflection" has some of that great Omnium Gatherum melody.

The more positive "Hide Me" has melodic Insomnium-like leads that would make the song shine well if not for Eikind's vocals. "Fabrication" has some of the crystalline yet heavy riffing melody of Crystal Lake. "Saviour" speeds things up while leaning a bit into Black Veil Brides in the metalcore-ish riffing.

The one song where Eikind sounds good is "Monsters" where he sings in more natural delivery in the soft verses, and it doesn't get in the way of the heavy guitar. "Cold" twists through speedy guitarwork that stir up catchy melody that I enjoy. Then it leads to the "Last Song", my favorite track here and one of the best by the band. The quite intro building up into harmonic guitars in a grand climax has the right sense of closure, without Eikind's poor vocals! The bonus track "Ignite" is a decent piece of melodeath.

After not hearing Before the Dawn in a few years, I made a rather iffy return via revisiting Soundscape of Silence. Saukkonen is the main star here, not Eikind. As interesting as it is to add gothic instrumentation/vocals to melodeath, not all of that aspect is enjoyable....

Favorites: "Silence", "Dead Reflection", "Monsters", "Cold", "Last Song"