The first release of Aeon Media, a label that wants to focus on ‘real underground talent’, big labels refuse to sign. A noble intention. Their first release is from a band called Final Dawn. Sounds evil. It is evil.

Final Dawn was formed four years ago in Finnland by Vesa, Mikko and Hessu. Hessu left and was replaced by Toni Laine. A second guitar player was recruited and this is what the line up looks like nowadays. I already mentioned they’re from Finnland. I already mentioned evil too. So, what other words come to mind? Let me guess… Children Of Bodom? Right! When you listen to this album, that name sure comes to mind, along with some Swedish death metal band names like In Flames and At The Gates. Metal, with great attention for melody. The riffs are pretty good, there are some cool melodies in songs like “Solem Art” and “Regression Is Transgression”.

It does not make the songs less aggressive, songs like “Aggression Overdrive” and “Ardent” (with a cool blastbeat) prove that.

One thing I am not impressed about are the vocals of Vesa. He just doesn’t have the right vibe vocalists like Thomas Lindberg (for example) have. His reach is pretty low, something between a crappy growl, a grunt and a scream.

Along with a band like Ribspreader, it seems they want to bring Swedish melodic metal back in the picture again. It is a nice attempt. It doesn’t fail, but it doesn’t succeed for the whole nine yards either. With a new vocalist and more cohesion in the songs, they can take a step forward.