This is the seventh album from UK progressive metal/rock band Dawnwalker.
Dawnwalker are one of those rare bands that genuinely do attempt something different with each release. 2022’s murky, hallucinogenic House of Sand was a massive hit for me, and I loved it. 2024’s follow up The Unknowing was ultimately less to my taste, with its classic prog rock stylings, but still enjoyable nonetheless. So, with that in mind, what does The Between have to offer?
A lot, it turns out. The Between boasts a single eponymous song, 32 minutes in length. There’s also a bonus track called Remember Death, which we’ll return to later – a semi-improvised ambient/post-rock work, spoiled by a single aspect of it.
Of the actual album – the primary single song – I have no such issues. It’s a diverse, far reaching piece that incorporates a lot of different styles and influences into its running time. Broadly, we’re talking progressive rock, progressive metal, post-rock, post-metal, and doom. However, that description doesn’t really do justice to The Between.
On The Between the artist behind the band is once again joined by an army of guest musicians, who provide an array of services, such as drums, guitars, bass, synths, vocals, saxophone, bells, percussion, and keyboards.
Calm. Meditative. That’s how it begins. Spoken word, normally the bane of all music, effectively brings the listener out of the real world and into a dream-like state, ready to embrace the whole of The Between, without expectation or boundaries. After this, comes gentle progressive rock; plaintive, affecting, instantly gripping. Twinned male and female singing that reminds me of some of Anathema’s best work. Oh my, this is good.
After around five minutes, there are growls, screams, and things take a decidedly metallic turn, while still embracing what came before. Briefly, The Between burns hard, recalling a mix of acts such as Imperial Triumphant and Between the Buried and Me at their most chaotic and vicious. It doesn’t last, nor does it need to.
Nine minutes in, we get an emotive guitar solo that hits the spot nicely, before breathing room appears as a break from the heaviness. Saxophone and feeling-rich doom accompany us for a while, and it’s a joy to be a part of the journey, despite the foreboding auras that are being crafted.
By thirteen minutes we’re firmly back in prog territory, and the song enters a phase of pure emotion. Not that emotion has been absent thus far, (the opposite in fact), but I feel that it’s now it reaches saturation point. Dawnwalker really want to involve you in their world, and it’s impossible to say no. It’s an intimate, and somehow humbling affair. The meditative, trance-like atmosphere and spoken word returns, and once more, I can’t complain. It’s an extremely rare example of spoken word actually benefiting music, rather than the exact opposite. It’s not overused either, which doesn’t hurt matters.
The progressive journey continues, with careful grace and warm emotive depth. Metallic aspects begin to be reintroduced, but tentatively hopeful in feel, until the 20-minute mark, when things take a turn for the darker. Hope can still be felt in the music, but it’s also forlorn and sorrowful. With the clean singing taking centre stage, it’s quite angelic too in places.
25 minutes or so in, and things are increasingly epic. When a classic rock guitar solo flares up a couple of minutes later, it’s impactful. The final stretch to the song’s conclusion is essentially drone, with powerful vocals.
Fade to black. Journey over. The end has come. Pure quality, once more, from Dawnwalker.
In contrast to The Between, the bonus track Remember Death features the sort of spoken word I absolutely loathe – intrusive, annoying, and entirely unneeded. Not just in part of it either, but across its entire 20-minute span. Nooooo! Unfortunately, it completely destroys the immersive atmosphere that the music tries to achieve, burying it under the weight of its unwelcome, ruinous presence, therefore rendering the track unlistenable to me. It’s extremely frustrating, as I can easily tell the music would actually be really, really good, if only it was allowed to exist on its own. Ahh well, you can’t have everything I suppose, and thankfully it is only a bonus track. The music itself, beneath the horror, sounds like something that could be quite transportive, but sadly this will never happen. I wish an alternative version was available, without the abominable spoken word, as I’m pretty sure I’d end up loving the song almost much as its predecessor. Bah.
Regardless, the actual album itself is extremely strong. The Between is once again Dawnwalker as I love them – bold, expressive, highly emotive, and filled with depth and substance. The Between is an essential listen for anyone into the progressive rock and metal styles.
Wonderbox Metal 