In January 2022 Dawn of Solace, the solo project by Wolfheart/Before The Dawn mastermind Tuomas Saukkonen, released its brand new album ‘Flames Of Perdition‘ via Noble Demon. Just a few months later on May 20th came the release of ‘Notes of Perdition‘, a brand new 4 track EP which resembles the album name not without reason. ‘Notes Of Perdition‘ features 4 intimate and emotional unplugged versions of songs from the current latest album. Together with Mikko Heikkilä of Kaunis Kuolematon as vocalist, the two once again were inviting you to a dark and emotional journey through the spheres of Finnish melancholy!

Tuomas Saukkonen on “Notes Of Perdition”:

“I love making unplugged and minimalistic versions of DoS songs and strip the songs to the core
where so little is needed to produce so much sadness and emotion.”

I already liked the normal version of this songs, but to me, the acoustic versions sound so much better. Very little is needed to transport a lot of sadness and emotions into songs. On the original record all the extra stuff just distracts from those emotions. These unplugged versions, while being a lot more minimalistic, carry a lot more feelings in every note. The whole mix seems a lot more balanced and pleasing to me and Mikko‘s voice just amazing, although I somehow prefer him singing in Finnish. The lyrics are what you’d expect from a Finnish doom metal band. They make you shiver from the cold of winter nights while at the same time laying a comforting layer over you, like snow that covers the land with a blanked of silence.

While I really like to get acoustic versions of metal songs, it’s not really that much of an original idea nowadays and with the songs being literally just a more minimalistic version of the same songs that where released just a couple months prior it’s not really outstanding in its creativity. The same goes for the artwork, it fits the EP, but it’s just very simple and basic. The sole focus of this record are the emotions they’re trying to convey to the listener.

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