Before The Dawn 4:17 am

Who the hell is Before the Dawn?

When I first caught wind of 4:17am, this Finnish 5-piece's sophomore LP, I was puzzled. I pride myself on having my finger on the pulse of the metal underground to some extent, and I had never, ever heard of this band. Throw in their positively esoteric album title (which serves as a continuation following their previous release’s final track “4:16am”) and I knew I had to check them out.

Truth is, though I’d never heard of Before the Dawn before, I have certainly heard them before. 4:17am takes a number of nods from fellow metal countrymen Amorphis, notably in the clean male vocals/growling vocals, as well as in sound itself. Particularly from Amorphis’ mid 1990s to early 2000s catalog, Elegy (1996) and Tuonela (1999) and Am Universum (2001), which began to evolve from a more death metal sound to mid-tempo rock, heavy on keyboards and melody.

Being from the same country and, no doubt, rolling in similar musical circles ( Finland’s not that big a country, after all), one can expect at least some sort of similarities to Amorphis and, to a lesser extent Entwine. A couple songs just sound a little too close for comfort.

To be honest, despite a telling lack of originality at points of 4:17am, I got this album about three weeks ago and I have just not been able to stop listening to it. It’s got that certain immediate hook that keeps you going back to it, like a salty pot of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup. It’s not the most unique of tastes, but damn if that salt doesn’t make you want another spoonful.

“Heaven” is the obvious opening track, coming in with big guitars and Panu Willman’s clean voice verses Tuomas Saukkonen’s growls, calling to mind a time when Amorphis also employed a similar vocal tactic. “Vengeance” has a gorgeous guitar breakdown, yet sounds like the band ripped a page from Am Universum, only pulling out the flutes at the last minute. Songs like “Into You” and “Hiding” come off sounding a lot more unique, however, not like Before the Dawn trying to ape the sound of other established bands.

Dani Miettinen is one hell of a drummer, keeping a steady but solid rhythm most of the time while occasionally pulling out a killer double bass tattoo. Mika Ojala, while not as much a part of the fore on the keys as Amorphis’ and Entwine’s are, still provides enough ambience, when needed to give those passages their own identity.

Despite similarities, there are a number of unique aspects to Before the Dawn in its melodious sound, subtle use of sampling and knack for getting at least one kind of hook into each and every track. Truthfully, not one song comes off as sounding like filler, and this modestly sized rocker can easily be listened to from start to finish.

Fans, of course, of Amorphis and Entwine, should check this little known band out. Fun, catchy and very easy to get into – just perhaps not the most original pot of soup on the stove.