Genre: Doom/death metal
Origin: Turkey
Released: 2009
Website: Dawnsight
Label: -
Uploaded: 13.11.09

I was quite surprised when I received this demo from Semih. I’ve had some contact with him over the years, and considering his devotion to grindcore I wouldn’t have expected him to take part in a doom metal act. Not that a man can’t be into both genres, I just hadn’t noticed any signs of the likes. Anyway, this is the debut demo by this young band. Although the three songs presented here have been two years in the making, the constellation is fresh. Inspired by old Katatonia, Swallow the Sun and October Tide (according to themselves, that is) I can say this is not the kind of doom I usually listen to. This lies heavily on the melodic side of the matter, although of course still with the death metal influence of the sound as well. But considering just how melodic this is I’m definitely not the right guy to judge. However I’ll of course do my best.
What’s quite apparent right from the get go is the crudeness of the recording. Unfortunately the production doesn’t have a teeny tiny bit of heaviness in it at all, and that’s really a big issue when it comes to this particular style of music. The melodic riffing that is supposed to bring forth emotions of angst, misanthropy and despair is somewhat lost in the soft blur that is the sound. You can sense it in the background, but it’s only through the more prominent lines and solos that it really becomes obvious what they’re trying to accomplish. The drum sound is screwed up somehow as the bass drum is a damped thump, the snare sound is too thin and the cymbals are often too prominent. The sound issue carries on into the vocal department as well, and it doesn’t complement the growls well.
This is really a major downer, as it doesn’t give the music even the slightest chance to make an impact on the listener. What power the melancholic riffing might bring with it is lost, and I find it somewhat difficult to really become affected by it. Then again this isn’t really my kind of doom, as already stated, so maybe a rabid fan of melodic doom/death metal will love it anyway. But I can’t help but to cringe when it comes to the guitar solo-thingie towards the end of Imaginary gloom, or the oh-so-horrible clean vocals in Crisis times. I mean, come on; he wouldn’t hit a clean note if his life depended on it. Dawnsight would benefit well from a better and heftier recording and skipping those godawful attempts of emotional clean vocals. With that taken care of I think they might be on to something. I just don’t understand why you would settle for a recording like this if you’ve put two years worth of effort into writing the songs.

Tracklist:
01. Imaginary gloom
02. Crisis times
03. Break