3rd June 2021

Review: “Dark Wanderer” by Progeny of Sun

“All of your hopes and dreams, Don’t mean s***, All that’s left is now to nowhere, no, I believe, do anything at all costs, You must believe, Not all who wander are lost” ~ DevilDriver

In March 2019 Progeny Of Sun released their debut self titled EP via Inverse Records as a duo having been forged in the fires of Seinäjoki and Helsinki in Finland two years prior by multi instrumentalist Jaakko Hautamäki who also handles mixing and vocalist Niko Aromaa. Two years further down the beaten track they have fleshed out their line up with the addition of rhythm section Juha Peura on drums and Tuomo Tolkki playing bass while Joni Kiviniemi joins on second guitar. This time out mastering is handled by Sebastian Has (Behemoth) from Sound Division Studio Poland and the band have three new cuts on offer, said to move from the Melodic Death Metal they started out formulating and into a more Extreme Metal direction. Perhaps this might be considered a fresh beginning…

The release of “Dark Wanderer” was preceded by a music video for opening track “Eclipse” and the first thing that strikes you about it is that the lyrical aspect is more direct, Aromaa cutting some of the fat away and giving us instead something both leaner and meaner than th bands previous offerings, something that is true for the most part of the entire EP. Stylistically, the drums really stand out, Peura has done a fantastic job here and is clearly influenced by some of the Grand Masters with more than just a hint of Gene Hoglan’s work surfacing here. Credit should also be given to Vesa Viitanen from Napalm to thy Face Productions who recorded them because they sound absolutely thunderous. “Eclipse” has haunting Melodic Death Metal bridge sections accompanied by synths but it’s the chunky Death Metal riffs that rise from behind it and strike like a blunt instrument to the skull in low budget horror film that win the day. “Defiled” sees Aromaa bring some Gothic almost Doom Metal clean vocal parts to accompany his usual caustic uncleans which are a nice touch and proves he has more to his game than meets the eye. A dark and menacing cut, it has an interesting dynamic as the band turn what would be a mid-tempo chugger into something far more powerful thanks to the energy injected by the rhythm section. Aromaa then changes his game again with some more Traditional Metal vocals during the opening salvo of “Divine Treachery“, however his demonic unclean tone setup up is a lethal injection of pure venom while the band don’t break their stride, even when his drawn out throat shredding roar is shattering windows for miles around. It may just be a taste, an advanced preview of what Progeny of Sun will be doing with their debut album but on this evidence it’s going to be an absolute ripper because these three cuts are immense [8/10]

Track listing