New Music – Mourning Sun

As castles crumble and the horrible night is vanquished by the morning sun, Dawn Ray’d instead opt to thrive within that darkness and resemble some true period pieces of black metal style on their 2021 release, Wild Fire.

Consisting of only two separate tracks, “WILD FIRE I” and “WILD FIRE II” are only a nearly 10-minute venture from the UK conquerors, but give a sequenced blend of two unique styles.

The first track, “WILD FIRE I” is triumphant with these glorious horns that paint back the image of a tall standing stone wall with little to no entryway. As the wall seems to swell in size alongside the swells of the horns, Dawn Ray’d thrashes into this blitzing and well-orchestrated attack through metallic undertones. “WILD FIRE I” can be commemorated for the way that Dawn Ray’d accurately tap into this vein of using shouts and semi-clean vocalization that borders on the line of being intimidating and still humanistic.

As the horns reappear after the seemingly infinite battle here, Wild Fire as a record bleeds to show some honor and pride behind the mixing, but never ties the audience down. The short run time, while devastating at first as it feels as if it is not enough to be sufficient slowly makes the transition into being positive.

Even though Dawn Ray’d is only in the spotlight for less than 10 minutes, the two-track journey is dense, and with the second incoming track, “WILD FIRE II,” the tone changes to become nearly a history lesson after a famous skirmish.

With importance laid upon the strings and violin primarily, the droning playstyle is reminiscent but sullen. At every turn, the sluggish strums on the guitar take the audience in through this timeline. The vocals are entirely clean here, giving emotional testimonies not quite seen with the first half of the record, almost as if Wild Fire was two different bands creating two entirely different albums.

When the lyrics do fade-in, the vocals describe, “there’s nothing in these songs of which to be ashamed. everything we sing about, I just as plainly say.” When this delivery comes, the strings are dropped to find only percussion that is based on almost tribal subtly. To be paired with a ritual, “WILD FIRE II” is a congregation of sound and beauty while “WILD FIRE I” is a sincere burning and destruction through sound.

While a quick dash, Wild Fire is a record that gives entryways into the two-faced nature of Dawn Ray’d. While it may not spin for an extended stay, Wild Fire is a perfect smash-and-grab that ends to be a form-fitting burial.

Listen To Wild Fire Here!!! – BandCamp/Spotify/iTunes