Germany’s Dawn of Disease has been dabbling further into the melodic sweet spot with their brand of death metal with their last two albums, most notably with 2017’s Ascension Gate. But the leaps and bounds by which new album Procession of Ghosts dives into it isn’t one that would have been the expected route. That’s not a bad thing, as it’s clearly their strongest work to date.
The blastbeat-driven, pure death metal that started at the band’s onset is still here. But there’s also a very emerging melodic component with Procession of Ghosts that is going to astound and impress those who have been following the act. It’s a totally natural move from an objective standpoint, and doesn’t nothing but further enrich Dawn of Disease, pointing them in a more unique position. The title track, for example, rages with plenty of venomous fury but also utilizes some light synths to up the cinematic quality of the material while some guitarwork veers into more melodic and atmospheric territory. “Autumn Days” and “Where the Clouds Reach the Ground” take the band into a more melancholic direction than usual, but again, they still contain some heavy, ground-pounding moments – there’s a lot of attention to detail in terms of the arrangement of swinging from visceral to mournful, allowing for some really rich, emotional moments with some sharp contrast that feels genuine in nature. It moves them further into more melodic death-like territory, hitting that energetic sweet spot that bands like underrated acts like Without Grief and Detonation thrived in, while providing a multi-layered experience.
An impressive album that sees Dawn of Disease at the brink of something extraordinary, Procession of Ghosts brings both melody and blunt force death metal aggression in just the right amounts. There’s a real flow to the songs, allowing for potent emotions to bloom as the tracks burst with energy. The band is bound to turn some heads as buzz builds on this one.