Notes of Perdition
Dawn of Solace
•
May 9, 2022

This four track EP is the work of Finnish musician Tuomas Saukkonen of the bands WOLFHEART and BEFORE THE DAWN. He released the first album with this project in 2006 called The Darkness, due to legal reasons the project was put on hold until 2019 when he released the single "Ashes". In 2020 he released the album Waves, also including the clean vocals of Mikko Heikkilä of the band KAUNIS KUOLEMATON. In 2022 he released Flames of Perdition, thus following it up with the unplugged acoustic EP Notes of Perdition.
The EP starts off with the track "White Noise" and the contrast between the clean and soft picking amplifies the power in the single echoing strum. Mikko's vocals are made for the tone of this song, as the higher his voice reaches out the overall power that the track holds can be felt. The next track up is "Event Horizon" and is a little faster and snappy but you can feel the darkness in this one. The faster picking in the bridge leading into the chorus is well placed and written, allowing the vocals to smoothly ride along the guitar.
The third track "Skyline" comes to life with an almost western guitar riff that sounds really cool with a little slide action and picks up perfectly into aggressive strumming. Tuomas put this song together really well, it is layered out and the riffs move into each other with ease. The lyrics are a bit on the sad side, like an introvert's description of time alone with one's self. The final track "Flames of Perdition" has Mikko's voice soaring through a description of an apocalyptic event.
There is something about an acoustic guitar that can hang an edge of sorrow onto a song that an electric guitar just can't do, and that is apparent with this track. There is some faster paced strumming at times that alleviates the doom and gloom at times, but all in all this track is clouded in darkness.
The vocals and guitar are side by side the entire way through the EP with nothing lost. Creative guitar brings the good and the bad of the lyrics into the open and as I have stated before, Mikko's vocal style on the tracks are very fitting. At some points there is a lot of depth that could have been created by a piano or a little bass, but the artist minimize the need by putting their creative talents together to make a great sounding release.
9 / 10
Almost Perfect
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Notes of Perdition" Track-listing:
1. White Noise
2. Event Horizon
3. Skyline
4. Flames of Perdition
Dawn of Solace Lineup:
Mikko Heikkilä - Vocals
Tuomas Saukkonen - Guitars
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