For unknown reasons I have missed this band twice during my stay in the US. The first supposed to be when SACRED DAWN were one of the opening acts in 'Powerfest' festival but they were forced to cancel; the second one was with SYMPHONY X when I had to interview Mike Romeo and thus I did not make on time. So, my third encounter is this review on the band's debut release through Nightmare Records.
The album opens quite melodically with clean guitar sounds in (Worlds Apart) The Desire Play; the distortion comes welcoming the fast paced Power Metal groove. The vocals are kept clean and powerful but not in the traditional high pitched Euro Power Metal pattern. The first thing you notice in SACRED DAWN is the very good guitar work with catchy riffs and really shines during the solo time. I'm The One comes to prove that the band doesn't want to stay inside the Power Metal box but to explore a little bit leaning towards the classic Heavy Metal sound. Hatred reveals that the early QUEENSRYCHE might be in the bands' influence list while introduce some eastern melodies that really spice things up. Walls Of Jericho came as a surprise to my ears because the vocals reminded of SENTENCED and the down tuned rhythm guitar to TYPE O NEGATIVE (this is quite a combination don't you think?).
The Power Metal elements are almost gone somewhere in the middle of the album. There, SACRED DAWN follows a more classic Metal path with additional melodic lines as heard in songs like the atmospheric Soldier's Plea and the almost ballad Shadows. The album closes with an excellent cover on the Southern Rock hit Devil Went Down To Georgia originally written by the artist Charlie Daniels (thank you wikipedia). I think when it comes to a story that involves the Devil and music then Heavy Metal is the best way to tell it! Here the guitar legato leads are joyful and actually will make you head bang.
Overall, I like this album and I hope I will catch this band on-stage to see how they are doing on-stage. I think that SACRED DAWN will eventually settle down in their sound style in their next album. As it happens with promising new bands, METAL TEMPLE will keep an eye on them!
 Sacred Dawn Live on WGN Noon News - 12/28/07