Italians have a habit of making kick ass metal and CRIMSON DAWN's brand of doom is another addition to Italy's repertoire of metal.  They forgo the gothic influences of bands like MY DYING BRIDE or PARADISE LOST; their sound is more of an old school doom.  Obviously, we have some SABBATH worship because there are plenty of wonderful, thick slabs of doom riffs prevalent but I do hear some PENTAGRAM and even CANDLEMASS in their sound too, which are two of the best compliments I can give this band.  In addition, I can hear some older hard rock influences in them like URIAH HEEP or DEEP PURPLE, especially with the keys.  They often have chorus' that are big, epic, and definitely have a "church" like feel to them.  In a lot of ways, they also remind me of a doom version of POWERWOLF.

The first proper track, "Eternal is the Dark," immediately brings the epic sadness and despair that doom is known for.  The melodic guitar lead creates a somber tone that works in tandem with the thick riffs, like rain falling upon a foggy morning.  Pecere's vocals are the stuff of doom metal dreams; his voice is clear and perfectly pitched for this style.  He often times is very expressive, such as on the chorus of the aforementioned track, sounding a bit like a doom version of Russell Allen from SYMPHONY X.  After the first chorus, the sludge guitar riffs kick in, as well as a chorus of chants and keys.  It isn't funereal doom by any means but it's pretty damn dark.  However, they quickly switch gears into a more up-tempo showing, with a kickass guitar riff and solo-this is where their classic rock sound comes in and I feel it really adds to their sound.

"The Skeleton Key" has a keen sense of melody in the guitars; Rusconi and Beretta are as adept at creating infectious melodic grooves as they are at playing towering riffs.  The energetic drumming, sweeping keys of Laghi, and the amazing vocal delivery of Pecere really gives this song a sort of sea chant feel to it, without actually being one at all   About 3:25 into the song we get some more twin melody guitar attack with the keys dueling out as well. "Dark Ride," like its names would suggest, has a sinister sound to it; the guitars are full on evil sounding as well as Pecere's spoken word passages.  At the 4:00 minute mark the song gets truly special.  The tempo slows to a crawl with a heavy as hell rhythm section powering through.  The lead guitar is deeply emotional and the church keys fit so well here.  Alessandro's bass gets to shine next before a wave of doom slams into the ears while Pecere soars above the impending darkness.  This is just a really solid album of top notch doom metal.  The band clearly knows their craft and they inject it with melody and a rock edge but it never takes away from the metal aspect of the doom.  Highly recommended for fans of old school doom.