Before The Dawn – Stormbringers

Stay Heavy Records / Napalm Records   release: 30.6.2023

Reluctant for a reason to write a review – not because I didn’t like it, quite the opposite, but would people believe what a dedicated fan had to say about an album, released after 10 years of hoping, yet hardly actually expecting a comeback of this fantastic Melodic Death Metal act?
Yep, exactly.

However, in the meantime this new song material has received plenty of honors in other Metal media, entered various genre charts (eg. top 25 of US Metal radio charts) & streaming playlists, therefore no need to hold back my own praise any more 🙂

The background story in a nutshell – a certain Paavo Laapotti performed an awesome version of BTD classic “Deadsong” on Finnish TV (Voice of Finland), delivering both clean and growl vocal parts masterfully… then he met BTD and Wolfheart mastermind Tuomas Saukkonen, one thing led to another – and here we are with a resurrected band and a new album. And not only the old BTD fan base is happy about the result, obviously. Stormbringers is a seamless continuation of “the old BTD”, just listen to e.g. “Downhearted” and “The Dark”. And even though Lars Eikind can never be “replaced”, Paavo actually manages to channel the vibe from “back then” while setting his own vocal mark. I mentioned in my review of the live premiere already that “Destroyer” is one of those songs you cannot get out of your head for days and weeks… and the whole album is basically a string of hit singles.
“Reveries” is so beautiful, sooo catchy, could be a Pop song; “Chains” delivers the perfect headbanging groove, and I spotted references to the other Saukkonen bands in eg. the epic “Divided” (Wolfheart) and the slow-burning “The Weight” (Dawn Of Solace).

My only criticism, I think Paavo could have been more “reckless” in some of his delivery, which I am convinced will come naturally soon. Hey, he is the only actual “new guy” in the band, which reunites BTD veterans Juho Räihä (guitar) and Pyry Hanski (bass) with Tuomas (drums).
Summing up, go and get it, and check the band’s tour calendar , they might be visiting your town very soon!