Mikseri.net

Throes Of Dawn have always (apart from the rather tedious debut album) been one of those “almost”-bands… almost good, but not quite. Their music has always had potential, and they’ve had a few damn good tracks, but as a whole, they’ve just failed to be anything more than mediocre. Until now, that is.

Quicksilver Clouds, the first album since the brief split-up, shows a whole new aspect of Throes Of Dawn; gone is the Black Metal-influenced Dark Metal of the previous albums, replaced by a rather light, melancholic and wistful, melodic Metal. I bet some would class this as “Gothic Metal” or whatnot, but I don’t feel Quicksilver Clouds fits that. Dark Metal is a good title.

So, musically, this is quite unlike the previous albums, yet I think fans of Throes Of Dawn’s previous works will like this one as well. Perhaps the biggest single change are in the vocals, as now there are more clean vocals than growled vocals. And it works well, the clean vocals of Henri Koivula may not be the most talented around, but I think they sound good. And the mixing really fits the music.

Sadly, there are some dead moments towards the end of the album, and a certain degree of boredom starts to kick in during the last two or three songs. The main problem is, that there are actually no tracks that truly stand out from the mass, making Quicksilver Clouds a bit too even. However, it is still a good album, and definitely the best Throes Of Dawn have ever recorded. Although this will probably be nothing for most of you, being far too melodic and “soft”, those who can also appreciate this kind of melodic and not that extreme Metal, are advised to give Quicksilver Clouds at least a try.