Review by Adam M on May 13, 2020.

Dawn of Solace surprised me with their inventive and interesting take on death metal.  Waves is a melodic and pleasing album that has a moodiness to it that is very appreciable.  The guitar tone is strong and the drumming is spot on.  Aside from that, the vocals are all clean, which is unusual for a melodic death metal album.  The performances make the album crisp and clear and deliver a memorable overall experience. 

There are many solid songs on the album, but “Hiding” had a particularly large impact on me with its catchiness and accessibility.  The album is one that will appeal to a large degree of melodic death metal fans because of a somewhat commercial appeal, but there is a great degree of depth to be found here as well.  There are a lot of atmospheric shifts that show a vibrant chromatic character.  The album is very morose and bleak as well, and this shows in the amount of emotion poured into the work.  It could be improved with more progressive structures, but this is probably the best melodic death metal album the year has seen so far. It is dark, which also further enhances the chromatic feel of the album.  It lives up to some of the works of bands like Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum to become a very interesting part of the genre. With an increased progressive aspect, further territories could be explored and the album could be made even more vibrant. 

As it stands, there is a great deal of melodic capacity and depth to be explored here and melodic death metal fans will be thrilled with this release.  It is not the best album the genre has ever seen, but it is a solid addition to the genre and one fans will appreciate. Prepare to become entranced in Waves.

Rating: 7.7 out of 10