Finnugor - Death Before Dawn
Adipocere
Raw Gothic Black Metal
10 songs (53:52)
Release year: 2003
Finnugor, Adipocere
Reviewed by Crims

Death Before Dawn is Finnugor’s second release after 2002’s Black Flames, which I reviewed here a while ago. The mastermind behind Finnugor is Gabriel Wolf who also fronts the atmospheric, dark folkish band Ywolf. Helping out Gabriel Wolf with most of the instrumentation is Nikolai Stalhammer. Black Flames was a very raw take on the Gothic tinged side of Black Metal, with a heavy dose of folk and “vampiric” keyboards that had a rather poor production job even for a band being raw on purpose. There were some instances of song writing brilliance but the cohesiveness of the CD fell-through. So the question then is: does Death Before Dawn fair any better? And the answer would be a subdued, yes.

It would appear that Gabriel Wolf listened to me when deciding the sound of Death Before Dawn (although I can guarantee he never read my review) as a much improved and louder guitar sound is present, with keyboards that have been moved further down the mix ladder. Sure, the keyboards are still there, after all it’s a staple of Finnugor’s sound and atmosphere, but as opposed to overwhelming the listener and completely blocking out any effectiveness the riffs might have had, they now simply compliment the songs and let the riffs be heard and take more control over songs. For me, this is a good thing because I could faintly hear some decent Black Metal riffs on Black Flames and now I can distinctly hear some surprisingly above average riffs. It’s a two sided sword though because the terrific atmospheres and melodies that was the main appeal of Black Flames are now somewhat gone. Mind you, the keys are still there, just in a much lesser capacity due to the mix level. Some brilliant keyboard melodies are still present in some songs just not like they were on Black Flames. That’s ok though because not only are the riffs better, but so is the drumming. The overall sound of the drums are much improved as they don't sound fake anymore, and blast beats and double bass are used more appropriately.

Vocally nothing has really changed. Wolf still uses a couple different tones of standard raw Black Metal styles. Of note though is the inclusion if ex-Mayhem singer Attila Csihar on guest vocals. Both singers use pretty much the same style and that also gives you a decent reference point to Wolf’s vocal style on this release, but it’s still nice to hear Csihar lend his vocals to the CD. The song writing is more polished and doesn’t veer off into monotony or pointless keyboard synth as often and because of that the CD is much more listenable than its predecessor as well.

While still with its faults such as a vocal style I’m still not completely convinced with and at times poor song writing choices, Death Before Dawn should appeal to a wider Black Metal audience than Black Flames did nevertheless. There are a decent number of solid tracks on here, my favorite being Korg Polaris as it has the most potent combination of Finnugor’s atmosphere, Black Metal riffing, and melodic tendencies. Keep in mind though the fan base for this release is still relatively selective so try before you buy. If you liked Black Flames you should enjoy Death Before Dawn to the same degree that I did.

Killing Songs :
Solar Eclipse, Cosmic Nest Of Decay, Korg Polaris
Crims quoted 72 / 100
Other albums by Finnugor that we have reviewed:
Finnugor - Black Flames reviewed by Crims and quoted 67 / 100
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