DAWNWALKER
Ever-evolving English collective continue to defy pigeonholing on latest album.
THE IRONY BEHIND Dawnwalker’s new record, House Of Sand, is that it is self-admittedly “claustrophobic and inward looking” – yet it could easily open up the group to a whole new audience. Gone are the 10-plus-minute opuses of the London-based collective’s previous effort, Ages, with a greater focus on the song – and the metal edge is dialled down too. They must be one of the few bands who can cop comparisons to folk, shoegaze and black metal in the same breath, and they’ve previously been described as the “lovechild of Opeth and Kate Bush”.
“On the last album, especially, we were trying to explore longer-form songs – we were kind of intentionally stretching everything out beyond the 10-minute mark,” mainman Mark Norgate says. “And this time it’s been the polar opposite. We’ve been trying to contract everything and do a lot in a short space of time and not dwell on one idea for too long.
“It’s very different in that sense, and it’s also kind of a conscious move away from metal and riffs into something a bit more song-based, but more unusual song ideas.”
Dawnwalker’s origins effectively lie in the splendour of Norgate’s bedroom, with the project birthed as an outlet for material that didn’t suit the rehearsal rooms of his post-rock and post-metal groups. It pirouetted on an ambient, loop-led vibe to begin with, evolving over time to pay homage to the traditional song arguably led by his eclectic influences. Part of Norgate’s musical awakening in his youth came via metal noiseniks Emperor, led by mercurial talent Ihsahn, while Kate Bush, PJ Harvey and Mansun were also on his mind.
With every album – House Of Sand is their fifth – Dawnwalker bring together a new cast of musicians, augmenting a core membership, which enables the vocalist-guitarist to blossom new sounds and atmospheres with each record.
“It’s half by design and half by happy accident, or just necessity really,” he explains. “There’s a desire to freshen things up with each album, try new ideas. But it’s also a case of who’s there at the time, where we’re recording, and what the circumstances are.”
The first full-lengther, In Rooms, was released a decade ago – precursor XIII came out in 2012 under the banner of Dreamers Awake – but what ensued was self-admittedly stop-start. With the collective evolving with each release, however, and live shows in the mix too, the cult of Dawnwalker continues to grow. But the future is less than certain, at least until Norgate finds the inspiration to go again.
“After every album I sort of feel it probably is the last one and I don’t have any more songs, and that’s me done,” Norgate concedes. “I’m in that phase right now and I know a month or two down the line I’ll start picking up guitar or keyboard or piano or something and new stuff will start coming out.
But it’s at a very indefinite point right now where it could go in any direction, and I don’t have a clear idea of what I want to explore next.”
“ON THE LAST ALBUM, WE WERE TRYING TO EXPLORE LONGERFORM SONGS. AND THIS TIME IT’S BEEN THE POLAR OPPOSITE.”