Did Dawnbringer Just Announce They’re Breaking Up?

It seems that Dawnbringer are breaking up, although they haven’t explicitly said so.

Dawnbringer independently released a new EP called XX this past winter after parting ways with longtime label Profound Lore. Now they’ve inked a one-album deal with Ektro Records for the EP’s re-release — more formats, more territories — and we just received an interesting press release about it.

The press copy proclaims the release a “funeral.” Band mastermind Chris Black speaks in metaphor that alludes to the band’s pending demise, and then goes on to explain his decision to be so vague… it seems he’s saying they’re breaking up without saying it. It’s quite cheeky, really, and as a sly way of putting the final chapter on a fantastic career I’m really, really into it.

Today, Ektro Records sets December 23rd as the international release date for Dawnbringer’s XX on CD and 12″ vinyl formats. Like many funerals, Dawnbringer’s XX is sudden, solemn, and brief, a dreamlike twist of old faces, bizarre incantations, and false comforts. It meditates on the nature of death and the infinity of grief, as well as the visceral climax of a closed box being lowered into the ground forever. Musically, the EP drifts in the rolling gloom of the group’s previous album, 2014’s Night of the Hammer, with a few glimpses of the heavy metal mad science that characterized its earliest works.

Regarding Dawnbringer’s future, bandleader Chris Black managed to say this: “Clues are more interesting than explanations. Too bad subtlety is out of style. But that has always been Dawnbringer’s comfort zone. It’s great that [2010’s] Nucleus turned out to be so popular, but I had a strange feeling at the time that something had malfunctioned. I’m glad we’ve been able to deflect that sensation back toward the audience in the meantime. For now, if confusion will be our epitaph, I gratefully accept.” Hear the beginning of the end (or the end of the beginning?) at Ektro’s Soundcloud HERE and HERE, with the respective tracks “Into the Maze” and “North by North.”

The press release gives this link for pre-orders, but as of the time I’m writing this post the album isn’t available there. On top of that, the full EP is still available for streaming from earlier this year. Hmm. Might wanna get on that, guys.

Anyway, here’s the two tracks Ektro have made available for listening:

https://soundcloud.com/ektrorecords/dawnbringer-into-the-maze

https://soundcloud.com/ektrorecords/dawnbringer-north-by-north