It’s been a few years since we had a release from the dark metal band Endless Funeral. But with the release of “Dawn of Rebirth”, we can see that they’re back. Martin Pleau is joined by Unforsaken’s Thomas Wilson. Jon Hooper, who was on the previous Endless Funeral album “A Second Beginning” and makes up Unforsaken along with Thomas, is still involved with this album – providing some pre-production work as well as the flaming phoenix artwork.
The album starts off “Ignition” which opens with an audio clip of a NASA-type launch sequence. With the utterance of “Ignition”, the guitar kicks it into high gear and gets things rolling. The drumming on this track is thundering and the keyboards add a nice edge to the song as they join the guitar on some riffs. “Rebirth” starts off with some melancholic keyboards which gives it a very dark mood. The guitars & drum then join in before the vocals start. Martin’s vocals are similar to Immortal Souls’ Aki Särkioja. And while the lyrics are short, they are very to-the-point: “Hung on a cross for us all” . . . “You came down from Your Throne, You came to give me life”. And with the brooding feeling of the music, it makes for a great song. “A Second Beginning” is a song from the previous Endless Funeral album A Second Beginning. But it’s a longer and fuller version (the original song is actually on the CD accessible by playing the CD on your computer). I really like this version. The guitars play a bit more and have a fuller sound. “Morbid Infliction” follows and after a brief dark intro, it kicks it into high gear, similar in style to “Ignition”. The guitars & drum provide a great backbeat for the vocal work, not distracting as some bands sometimes do. And the keys add a nice ethereal touch. “Defiance” is another great song . . . definitely one that any headbanger can enjoy and do hair windmills to. Similar to “Rebirth”, the lyrics are few but powerful as they tell the story of Adam & Eve’s fall in the Garden of Eden. “Embraced (A.O.G.) is a short interlude – just over 30 seconds – that sounds like it was a part of the song “Rebirth” with it’s etherealness. “Final Cry” is a lot slower than most of the previous tunes. 
It almost has a doom metal feel to it. And the lyrics – similar to some passage from Lamentations – are very doomish: “Will I ever fly with/The wings of redemption/Or drown myself/In my sea of despair.” The guitar solo in the song is very heart-felt and moving. “Enter His Rest” follows with its plodding drums and guitar work – another great doom-style song. The vocals feel like Martin is trying to say them before he dies – very dramatic and works well with the music. “By The Blood” is another fast, straight-ahead song. And we get more fantastic lyrics: “Not by humans hands/Only by the blood/Found in Christ Jesus/Can we be redeemed.” And the dual guitars section in the song is reminiscent of Iron Maiden or Judas Priest. “Peak of Existence” is a lot more melodic with the keyboards. It’s a bit different from all of the other songs in this respect. But the music is very well executed and borders on some melodic metal style. “On My Knees Again” is another instrumental but unlike “Ignition”, it is darker. You hear some riffs from previous tunes but hear how they’re a bit different. “Arms of Grace” is another slow song but with a twist. Between verses, the drums kick things up to about twice the speed, giving a nice juxtaposition. “Sonrise” is a mid-tempo tune that not only has some great guitar sections -between the verses and after the second verse – but some awesome lyrics – “As the Son rose as told/Enthroned in light, the One foretold/Alive and well in spite of doubts/Go on and tell, the King is out.” “Reconciled” close out the album. It starts off with the drums along with some vocal affects with the keyboard joining in before the guitars start ripping it up. This song is different in such that it actually has a repeated chorus, which is a nice change.
And in addition to all of these 14 songs, there are additional songs available when the CD is put in a CD-ROM. You’ll find three of the songs from the album – “Defiance”, “Ignition” and “Enter His Rest” – that are in a single format. Plus, you’ll also find the original versions of “On My Knees Again” and “A Second Beginning” from the previous album.
Overall, this is a great release from Endless Funeral. Both Martin and Thomas have done a great job. The music is a nice mix of straight-ahead, guitar-driven metal as well as melodic dark metal. A great release indeed.
8.5 out of 10
