Origin:	Austria
Genres:	Gothic Metal, Black Metal

Last update/review:	February 14, 2015

Golden Dawn

Golden Dawn is the brainchild of Stefan Traunmüller, who originally founded the band as a one-man black metal project in 1992. Eventually he attracted the attention of two influential Austrian metallists (Martin Shirenc of Pungent Stench and Hollow, and Ray Wells of Pazuzu), leading to a compilation appearance and eventually a recording contract with Dark Matter Records. Traunmüller recorded the debut album, The Art Of Dreaming, still as a one-man band, but with session help freom Shirenc, Abigor's Thomas Tannenberger, and others. Unfortunately, Dark Matter soon folded, and it would be seven years before the band, now a four-piece, would record the follow-up, Masquerade, on Napalm Records. Masquerade is a diverse and mature album, much more aligned with gothic and traditional metal than black, with Traunmüller's classically-influenced keyboard work providing plenty of interesting melodies. The vocal work ranges from some goth crooning to a cleaner vocal style to the occasional black rasp, with some nice female vocals as well. This is not an immediate listen, as it's less straightforward than many of the current albums flying the goth banner, but it's a refreshing and interesting release. The project reverted back to a Traunmüller solo effort for the third album, 2012's Return To Provenance.