The engaging black and death metal sound of French band The Dawn Razor is intertwined with intriguing themes inspired by the romantic era, and they describe it as “violence, brightness and contrast.”
The band started out as the solo project of Parisian lead guitarist and vocalist Sylvain Spanu in 2016. He soon brought guitarist Thomas and bassist Thomas on board to build the band out. And on the sound they’ve crafted, Sylvain told us: “I would say, fast and aggressive riffs, precise drums, loud bass and sharp vocals.”
Our latest taste of this is Chiaroscuro Italiano, an Italian version of a song from last year’s second album, In Sublime Presence, and the name of which refers to the treatment of light and shade in drawing and painting. It opens up with guitar notes dropping into heavy drums and guitars feeding into a wild guitar solo over big chords. That drops into vicious vocals over intense drums and guitars, which give way to stabbing guitars before clean vocals answered by gruff retorts. The darkness increases again with relentless pounding drums, before lightening up with a meandering little guitar lick under gruff vocals. The pace picks up with a stabbing riff and huge rolling drums, giving way to a virtuoso guitar solo to bring the track to a dramatic conclusion.
On the track, Sylvain said: “We got a very good reception! People find the video very dark and the gothic cloister matches well with the song’s theme: the Italian Renaissance. Lyrics are about the wonders and crimes of this era. And even in the music, you can find very aggressive moments and bright melodies.”
As mentioned, the English version of that track is on last year’s In Sublime Presence, which is packed with more dramatic metal goodness. That includes lively opening track Point Nemo, the intense Refuse Tomorrow, the album’s lead single The Wooden Idol, which you can check out in the video below, a personal favourite The Lord and the Crow, and the especially dark and moody Tropical Survival.
Key influences for The Dawn Razor sound include Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom, as well as bands like Dimmu Borgir and Gojira. Sylvain actually wrote an article about his guitar inspirations, so you can find out more here.
And on what inspires them to write music, Sylvain explained: “The main theme is the sublime movement of the 19th Century. We call sublime all things that cannot be controlled by humans. It results in a mixed feeling of fear and respect. For example, the ocean, the mountains, a revolution etc… All songs of The Dawn Razor are about a sublime theme.”
The Dawn Razor have more gigs planned through 2026, as well as releasing new guitar videos on YouTube and more news to come on their website.
You can follow The Dawn Razor on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music, Deezer, Soundcloud and YouTube.
Listen to The Dawn Razor and more new metal on our Spotify playlists GigRadar Core and GigRadar Metal
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