Dan Brooklyn – The Great Beast
Release Date: 1st December 2022
Label: SAOL
Pre-Order/Pre-Save
Genre: Industrial, Metalcore, Melodic Death Metal.
FFO: Motionless in White, Rammstein, Deathstars.
Review By: Ryan Payne
Hailing from Amsterdam, we have solo act Dan Brooklyn with his debut album “The Great Beast”; a musical story celebrating the life of Aleister Crowley. The album blends gothic and industrial elements with some moments of metalcore and melodic death metal to make this a very strong debut from Dan. When asked about the theme of the record, the multi-instrumentalist has this to say:
“Crowley was feared by his god-fearing contemporaries; celebrated as a pioneer and free thinker by the counterculture generation of the 60s and 70s. But which of the many faces is Crowley’s true face? Was he the misunderstood, libertine pioneer that paved the way for the Age of Aquarius? Or was he the selfish, sex- and drug-addicted narcissist that his critics claim him to be? Listen to The Great Beast and find out for yourself!”
With former Five Finger Death Punch guitarist, Caleb Bingham, helping to orchestrate this concept album alongside Dan, this album is set out to be an absolute belter of a record. Unfortunately, it does get very repetitive the further you delve into it. A couple of new elements get added into the mix which shake things up a little, such as the guitar solo in “Chamber of Nightmares” and the operatic sections that complement the riffs in “Liber XLIV” and “Boleskine”, but not enough to make any particular song stand out from another. “The Great Beast” also has 6 filler/interlude tracks, filled with no music but old recordings. I believe the intent was to create an atmosphere for the record and help with the story telling, but falls flat, leaving a 13-track album with only 7 actual songs. Some very good ideas throughout this record and the overall mix makes it very enjoyable to listen to, not to mention the cover of “Mr Crowley” thrown in at the end for a bit of fun.
Dan Brooklyn’s voice is definitely the element that has me torn the most. The mix of melodic death metal style screams and industrial style talking throughout, this makes him very recognisable and definitely distinguishes him from many new artists on the scene. On the other hand, I couldn’t help but feel like most of the industrial sections, in his voice and vocal pattern, came straight out of Rammstein’s play book. Dan has obviously thought very hard on the lyrics and the story he is trying to tell us all through his music, as well as being a very talented vocalist and song writer, but the constant resemblance to the bigger bands has me feeling like something else should have been tried in its place.
“The Great Beast” is definitely not a bad record, I would definitely recommend this to a friend and give it a listen again, once I’ve removed all the pointless filler tracks. As for originality, there is an absence, and this is why it falls flat in my books. This Industrial Metalcore debut record is definitely going to attract some new faces and with the right stage show, could be spectacular to see live. The album drops on the 75th anniversary of Crowley’s death, 1st of December, and for anyone who is a fan of dark and gothic metal, I strongly urge you to give this album a go. 
(3 / 5)
