The German traditional doom metal outfit Dawn Of Winter (formerly known as Cemetary) started out in 1990 already, yet The Peaceful Dead is only their second full length record. In their almost twenty years of existence the band has released numerous demo records and EPs as well as a compilation record with remastered demo tracks. Let’s see what this new disc has to offer.

 

Dawn Of Winter offers traditional doom metal in the vein of bands like Saint Vitus, Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, Trouble and of course the mighty Black Sabbath. This means slow, heavy doom metal with clean, high vocals. Personally I’m not such a fan of this traditional style of doom metal, especially not the vocals. And with this record of Dawn Of Winter, that is the biggest minor. Although Gerrit Mutz knows how to hit his notes, his voice lacks all charisma and originality. He even sounds a bit whiny (and that isn’t a complimentary comparison to legend Wino). And if you have to listen to it for about an hour, it gets on your nerves, trust me.

 

The music drags along the traditional paths paved in doom metal, so there’s not too much originality in there either, yet the production is of such a fine quality that it becomes quite nice to listen to. It’s just too bad that the annoying slow heavy metal vocals pop up too much during all tracks. I really wonder what I would have thought of this band if they would use heavy grunts or screams instead of this.

 

I recommend Dawn Of Winter to the fans of all traditional doom, yet I advise them not to expect anything highly original or breathtaking to be found on The Peaceful Dead. Just a copy of what you already know and own.