Since RUSH started to fuse Hard Rock with Progressive Rock back in the 70's, no one could say that, in the future, many extreme Metal bands would make the fusion of brutal crushing aggressiveness with ethereal/dreaming elements of Prog Rock. And there are those that left extreme Metal to be exclusively a Prog Metal band with some introspective elements, as TIAMAT did from "Wildhoney" on. And the Finnish duet DAWN OF SILENCE seems to be going into such way with "Waves", released 14 years after its predecessor, "The Darkness".

Their music is tender and deeper, and could be labeled as 'Melodic Prog/Doom Metal', because there's a Doom Metal touch (due the slow tempos and bitter guitar riffs in some parts). The Death Metal words refer to the use of nasty vocals used on some parts of "The Darkness", but seem to be almost absent on this album (they appear just in some moments, but never being as evident as before). The introspective ambiance is really charming, and can sound as a Prog Rock voyage in some parts, but the weight is evident, so take it and bon voyage!

The best thing about the production was the choice for the instrumental tunes. As drums has a dry and defined set of tunes, the guitar has that 'greasy' and nasty sonority of Doom Metal on the riffs, but on the solos are clean and defined. Everything works as a machine, and shapes the songs properly. All the songs are really great, and can make you mind travel to strange domains of consciousness. But the melodic beauty of "Lead Wings" (excellent guitar riffs and solos) and "Ashes", the contrasts between harsh parts with clean and deeper ones shown on "Hiding" (these clean vocals are really excellent), the 'shadow-and-light' effect created by harsh and clean voices on "Tuli", and the Pagan/World Music melodies that fills "Choice" are the best ones.

"Waves" is really an excellent release, and I hope that DAWN OF SOLACE will not take a so long time for the band's next release!