Rating: 8.5

Country: New Zealand

Release Date: 2006

Record Label: Ibex Moon Records

Track list:
1.Spare None
2.Swathed in Impurity [mp3]
3.The Road to Babalon
4.Descent into Eminence
5.Villainy Endures
6.Sedition
7.Violence and Uncleanliness
8.Sin (Amongst the Kings)
9.Master of the Strumpets

Band Website: Dawn of Azazel

Dawn of Azazel - Sedition

Rigel Walshe - Bass/Vocals
Joe Bonnett - Guitars
Martin Cavanagh - Drums

Progression is metal is often a contentious prospect, and the new Dawn Of Azazel effort rams that notion home like a railroad spike through your hand. On one end of the stick, it's easily as brutal and violent as their much-lauded debut 'The Law Of The Strong'. On the other, it's a completely different beast – gone is the psychotic atavism and atmosphere of barely controlled chaos, to be replaced by a clinical precision and technicality which removes any existing comparisons to Conqueror and Blasphemy, replacing those with a great resemblance to the current US technical death metal scene. Not that the band's trademark sound is entirely gone – Joe Bonnett's guitar style is unmistakable, and Rigel Walshe still screams his vitriolic hatred in the same strangled howl, although he's much more comprehensible this time.

Once one gets past the total lack of black metal influence and the newly polished approach, the album starts to make a lot more sense, though. For one thing, new drummer Martin Cavanagh is a fucking monster, beating the shit out of his kit and taking no prisoners. His speed and intensity is what pushes the album into the red, and his overall musical skill has given DoA's sound a much appreciated boost. 'Sedition' branches out in several new directions – “The Road To Babalon” and the following intro to “Descent into Eminence” among others introducing a lurching, heavy-as-fuck doom metal groove, while “Spare None” and “Master of the Strumpets” combine a newfound sense of melody with a velocity they only hinted at previously. At barely 29 minutes, 'Sedition' is just long enough to make it's point, a compact beast of an album filled with hooks which will stay in your head for days (particularly “Swathed in Impurity”).

With a new deal on the excellent Ibex Moon label and an impending US tour, Dawn Of Azazel look be to making further inroads towards conquering their own section of the metal world. My advice would be to get the fuck out of the way before they crush you.

February 17th, 2006