Before the Dawn - Cold Flare Eternal (2025)

Being huge fans of Melodic Death Metal, we have always loved Finland’s Before the Dawn and their earlier work with Eikind handling the bass and clean vocals. There was just something highly melancholic about his vocals, alongside Tuomas Saukkonen’s melodic guitars and drums that made that era magical. Having returned in 2021 with Paavo Laapotti on lead vocals, it took us a while to fully get into the band’s different, not new, sound, and with “Cold Flare Eternal”, we are finally ready to let go and really enjoy what they are putting out this time around.

Opening with the piercing “Fatal Design”, we get the traditional Before the Dawn melodic riffing onslaughts alongside crafty drumming. The band’s staple, and highly melancholic, sound quickly comes into central attention as Paavo Laapotti’s clean vocals masterfully combine with the growls. Giving us some vibes of “Deathstar Rising” and “Soundscape of Silence”, we are quickly hooked with the catchiness of “As, Above, So Below”, “Mercury Blood”, and “Stellar Effect”. Thanks to some powerful guitar leads from Juho Räihä, the band is firing on all cylinders and delivering extreme melancholy and catchiness.

Featuring dreamy atmospherics, “Flame Eternal” is one of favorite tracks in this release, thanks to its very emotive opening and masterful vocal arrangements, creating a very cathartic piece. Focusing on catchiness, but also a hefty dose of heaviness, tracks like “Stronghold”, “Shock Wave”, keep things heavy and headbanging inducing, while the band also showcases their more sensible and melodic side with masterful pieces like “Destination” and the lush closer “Ad Infinitum”.

While “Stormbringers”, the band’s return release, was pretty solid, it didn’t feel like Paavo Laapotti was fully integrated into the mix, this completely changes in “Cold Flare Eternal”. The band sounds like during their glory days in their first incarnation, but with the additional years of experience each member has now, paired with crafty and lush vocal arrangements. This release is a must have for any fan of the genre, and for anybody ready to fully turn the page to the new incarnation of Before the Dawn.

Label: Reaper Entertainment

Release: September 5th, 2025

Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Country: Finland