Anyone still listen to pure 80s’ heavy metal? If so, embrace Canada’s CELESTIAL DAWN – a band that belongs in the early 80s but still comes as a breath of fresh air in 2002, an age of baggy-pant trends and ADIDAS mall music. I received their demo GENESIS from their Pakistani-born guitarist Kash, who has been residing in Canada for most of his 28-year life. At receiving the CD by mail, I was pleasantly surprised by the extremely professional packaging. For a demo, GENESIS has been packaged with finesse, with a beautiful cover containing a very angered sun and the band logo around it. Inside, there are decent band photographs and demo details. The only thing missing is the release date! :p Other than Kash, the band consists of Christian Acier on vocals, Steel Stevens (CHEESY!!!) on drums and J.D. Gunner on the bass guitar. A simple lineup, just the way I like it!! The music? Well, to cut a long story short, this is simplistic, in-your-face, mid-paced heavy metal straight out of the depths of the 80s’ united headbanging frenzies! This 4-track demo comes complete with cheesy-as-hell lyrics, the feeling of leather and chains, and of course, the typical Manowar rides to glory and protecting our sacred metal that runs in our blood! I’ll go over it song by song: Celestial Dawn – A good mid-paced riff kicks it off, with Christian giving us the glorious "Oh, oh, oh!" intro. The verses have him singing the cheese-soaked lyrics in a slow manner which goes well with the riff and he does really well in the high-pitched parts at the end of each verse. A nice, short bridge-lead brings us to the chorus which is rather well written and easy to sing along to, and again Christian impresses with movement from simple singing to high-pitched vocals. Kash plays a good lead later on, after which the song picks up pace and moves to a nice melody. Here, the bass and drums are notable; J.D. and Stevens provide a strong rhythm section. A final chorus leads to the end of the song, keeping with the melody introduced at the latter half of it. I quite liked this, though the guitar sound could have been clearer, and louder during the leads. Impressive! (4/5) Breakdown – My favourite song on the demo! J.D. plays a nice bass intro, immediately introducing Christian’s voice. The lyrics on this one are a lot better, dealing with confusion and desperation. Kash’s simplistic riff and the drumming go well with each other, and everything sounds woven together very effectively. The chorus kicks in quite soon, and this one’s faster than on the first song. This one will have you screaming "Breakdown! Someone rescue me!" in no time! The second chorus brings us to Kash’s lead, after which the song breaks into an "Ohhhhh! Ohhhh!’ bit, Christian doing well to sound "desperate" as the song is meant to be. This one is a lot shorter, and ends with that vocal melody, and there are higher backing vocals introduced somewhere in between. This could have been perfect with another lead, but it shines as it is anyway! Breakdown! (4/5) Spectre – Even though throughout this demo I can hear early Manowar influence, the opening riff on ‘Spectre’ is very reminiscent of Powerslave-era Iron Maiden! Stevens’ crash drum work comes in handy for making the riff sound punchier. In my opinion, this song has a better beginning than the rest, and definitely the heaviest! Again, J.D. and Stevens are impeccable at keeping the rhythm alive. I don’t really know what the lyrics are about, but they still ooze with cheese! Christian’s verse singing is, however, much too similar to the first song – slow and plodding – though this doesn’t do damage to the song. The chorus is more complex than usual, which I give them credit for. Unfortunately, ‘Spectre’ is much too long for a simplistic heavy metal song, clocking over 5 minutes; loss of interest halfway comes naturally. Maybe if Kash played more blistering leads, it would remain interesting. The lead towards the end isn’t as good as the others, and comes across as very casual. This is in no way a bad song and altering the length would definitely make this fit in better. (3/5) Another Rising Sun – Cheese galore!! The main problem here is that this song clocks at about 4 and a half minutes, and yet tries to sound ‘epic’. This absolutely does not work for me, and I soon find myself bored by the slower than mid-pace feel of ‘Another Rising Sun’. The riff is nothing exciting, and Christian could have done a lot more with his voice. Relief comes with Kash playing a beautiful lead halfway through the song, probably the best lead on the demo. Also, Stevens is good on the drums, and if he was allowed to go faster, the song would perhaps sound a lot better. However, after many listens, I have gotten quite used to this, and can happily sing along! J The end of ‘Another Rising Sun’ is typical Iron Maiden, and I always enjoy that!! Though not bad, this is the weakest song on the demo, and not the best way to end an otherwise promising demo! (2/5) Overall, Celestial Dawn’s ‘Genesis’ is tremendously promising, and their upcoming full-length release can only be better! The production on this is quite good, though I hope the album will be a lot cleaner. More lead playing and a tad better songwriting are the main requirements hereon, and soon Celestial Dawn will come into their own, originality flowing in naturally. As I await the album, this demo should keep me busy in my moods of pure 80s heavy metal! Do note, this is unashamedly 80s and the better for it (the cheesy lyrics are fine as they are)! Four talented musicians, I wish them luck in their future quests for glory… Rumour is that they’ll be opening for Blind Guardian sometime next year! WITNESS THE DAWN! (7/10) "People of the land, hear our call Gathered here, to never fall The fight for metal, we carry on Stand with us, Celestial Dawn!!"