"Cycle of Pain" is the second release by this female fronted Italian band hailing from Genova who were conceived in 2009. It is very similar in style to their self titled debut from 2011 which was also released on Black Widow but guitarist Paolo Cruschelli is no longer with the band.
Blue Dawn are often labeled as Doom metal or Gothic metal but I would describe their sound more as hard rock with a dark doomy edge which is typical of many of the bands in the Black Widow repertoire.
The band site their main influences as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Celtic Frost, Roxy Music, King Crimson and Voivod. I am also reminded of the Canadian band Blood Ceremony.
Monica Santo sings in English and her clean melodic vocals set them apart from typical Doom metal bands. Bass player Enrico Lanciaprima shares some of the vocal duties on a few tracks as well.
The guitar tone of new guitarist Luigi Milanese and Enrico's Rickenbacker bass gives them a certain retro stoner vibe for sure and they have been known to play some Black Sabbath covers in their live set. Even the albums artwork looks like it was influenced by Sabbath's debut.
The line up is rounded out by drummer Andrea Di Martino and additional musicians James M. Jason on keyboards and Roberto Nunzio Trabona on saxophone.
"Cycle of Pain" was released on vinyl as well but the CD contains a bonus track called "Last Cry" as well as a video for the title track.
Recommended to fans of Black Sabbath, Blood Ceremony, 70's English hard rock, stoner rock.
Reviewed by John Longo on February 12th, 2014
