Dawn of Azazel is something of a notorious band in their native New Zealand. This due mostly to the fact that frontman Rigel Walshe is a police constable. A local news station ran a feature on Walshe because of the controversial nature of Dawn of Azazel's music combined with his public profile.The band plays a style of death metal combined with influences from extreme thrash metal and black metal. They fit in well with the Australian war metal scene, having similar sound and lyrical themes.
This recording is a 7" vinyl-only single featuring the song "Bloodforged Abdication", which does not appear on either of their full-length albums. The single came after the band's second demo and before their first full length album. The band brings its customary jagged riffs and insane pummelling drums. Walshe's vocals are manic shrieking screams and growls. The riffs change quickly and often with varying tempos producing an extreme sense of unease as the listener is brutalized over and over again.
The B side is a cover of the Order from Chaos song "Plateau of Invincibility." I am not familiar with the original so I can't speak to how faithful it is, but as this version sounds like a Dawn of Azazel song, I would assume that the band put it's own spin on it. Not that that is a bad thing at all. One can make the assumption that Order from Chaos is one of the bands who influenced Dawn of Azazel due to the similarities in sound. The elements from the previous song are all present in force.
This was a good preview of what was to come from this band. The production values had increased and the band found its sound which it would show on their full lengths.
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