Abysmal Dawn – Nightmare Frontier (EP)
Release Date: 4th February 2022
Label: Season of Mist
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Technical Death Metal.
FFO: Monstrosity, Deeds of Flesh, early Malevolent Creation, and great death metal bands everywhere.
Review By: Eric Wilt
Abysmal Dawn is a band that needs little introduction to death metal fans. With guitarist/vocalist Charles Elliott at the helm, the band has put out five solid slabs of death metal, beginning with their debut full-length From Ashes to their stellar 2020 release Phylogenesis. Abysmal Dawn has become kings of a no-nonsense death metal that their fans can always depend on to be full of top-notch musicianship and challenging yet accessible compositions. Joining Elliott for this outing are Eliseo Garcia on bass and additional vocals, James Coppolino on drums, and Vito Petroni on guitars.
Nightmare Frontier consists of one new song, one re-recorded song, and two covers. The new song, “A Nightmare Slain,” was recorded during the Phylogenesis sessions, but didn’t end up on the 2020 album. According to Elliott, this was because, “The music shows a bit more of a slightly progressive and melodic side of the band,” and, “didn’t quite fit into the flow of that album.” To my ears, “A Nightmare Slain” sounds like classic Abysmal Dawn. It’s fast, it’s heavy, it’s a big bunch of death metal goodness for fans to dig their teeth into.
The other Abysmal Dawn song on the EP is a re-recording of “Blacken the Sky” off of the band’s debut album, which was originally released by Crash Music and then re-released by Relapse Records. Ironically, and to my point about “A Nightmare Slain” being good ol’ fashioned Abysmal Dawn, “Blacken the Sky” contains both progressive and melodic sections in addition to Abysmal Dawn’s usual bludgeoning death metal. The re-recording doesn’t stray too far from the original, but it does benefit from the update in production capabilities. Most notably, the drums are clearer and fuller than on the original.
Although a four song EP is not nearly as exciting as a new full-length would be, the two cover songs go a long way in making up for the brevity of the album. The first cover is “Behind Space” originally by In Flames. Originally released on Lunar Strain in 1994, “Behind Space” sounds like it was written for Abysmal Dawn. Although it is still clearly the song In Flames recorded all those years ago, in the hands of Abysmal Dawn, the track sounds more death metal than melodic death metal. Fans of either or both bands will enjoy this one. Likewise, “Bewitched” originally released on Candlemass’s 1987 album Nightfall, will please fans of both bands. Unlike “Behind Space,” the doom metal classic song pushes Abysmal Dawn way outside the death metal box, but they acquit themselves of it with aplomb. Even the clean vocals are performed with excellence.
My only complaint with Nightmare Frontier is the fact that it is an EP. Granted, we were gifted an Abysmal Dawn full-length less than two years ago, but to paraphrase the words of Ulysses Everett McGill in the Coen Brother’s classic, Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?, “a third of an Abysmal Dawn album would only arouse my appetite without beddin’ ‘er back down.” Well, my appetite’s been aroused, and now I’m looking forward to full-length number six while Nightmare Frontier holds me over for the meantime. 
(4.5 / 5)
