Before the Dawn

Biography

Before the Dawn is a Finnish melodic death metal band formed in 1999 by Tuomas Saukkonen.

History

The band was founded in 1999 by Tuomas Saukkonen as his solo project: "I played and recorded all instruments in the first demo To Desire Part 1 by on my own then for the second demo I had a friend of mine on the drums. The first line-up was gathered so that BTD could perform live. With many changes in the line up BTD entered the studio to record the MCD called Gehenna. I received couple of deal offers but nothing serious enough. BTD continued playing gigs and I kept on writing lots of new material, and the next MCD called My Darkness got very good feedback and a serious enough record deal was offered by Locomotive Music."
Joined by Panu Willman, Mike Ojala, and Kimmo Nurmi, the newly formed lineup released their first full-length album, My Darkness×My DarknessJanuary 2003 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Intro1:072Unbreakable3:303Seraphim3:214My Darkness4:165Take My Pain4:066Father and Son4:207Alone3:558Angel2:469Undone4:0510Human Hatred3:551104:16 am4:18, in 2003. It was followed up by a second album in 2004, 4:17 am×4:17 amApril 2004 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Heaven4:152Seed4:183Dreamer3:544Fade Away4:015Crush5:226Into You6:197My Room5:178The Black4:349Vengeance4:1910Hiding4:32. The band supported Katatonia on a Scandinavian and European tour in 2003.
The Ghost followed, released in 2006. Because of the huge amount of song material written for that album, Saukkonen created another album, The Darkness, for a side-project, Dawn of Solace.
With Lars and Juho as new permanent band members, the band released the next full-length album Deadlight×Deadlight4 April 2007 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Wrath4:082Faithless3:163Fear Me4:304Eternal4:025Morning Sun4:526Deadsong3:237Guardian4:418Star of Fire3:189Reign of Fire3:1610…4:14 in 2007.
The single "Deadsong×Deadsong14 February 2007 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Deadsong3:232Gehenna4:213The Bitter End3:25", released in February 2007, immediately reached #2 on Finnish Top 20 charts; for four months it remained among the Top 20 of Finnish Radio Rock. The single "Faithless×Faithless27 June 2007 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Faithless3:172Mouth for War4:073The Black (live)4:25" featuring Jone Nikula on the Pantera cover "Mouth for War", reached #2 on the Finland Top 20 charts for the week of 15 July 2007.
During the recording sessions for the fifth studio album Soundscape of Silence×Soundscape of Silence29 October 2008 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Dying Sun3:122Exile4:003Silence3:014Dead Reflection3:425Hide Me3:306Fabrication3:517Savior3:158Monsters4:519Cold4:1010Last Song2:53, drummer Dani Miettinen dropped out; the band decided to leave the position vacant and work with session drummers for live shows (e.g. Matti Auerkallio). Right after its release at the end of October 2008, Soundscape of Silence went to the top 20 of Finnish album charts (#14).
The core band members were later joined by drummer Atte Palokangas (from the band Agonizer). Atte became an official new band member in mid-2009, and Before the Dawn supported Amorphis on their Forging Europe Tour in late 2009 with a completed line-up.
The anniversary EP Decade of Darkness×Decade of Darkness31 March 2010 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracks1Decade of Darkness4:212End of Days3:573Insomnia3:254Painless2:525Painless (live)3:126Deadsong (live)4:037Deadsong (symphony version)4:24 went straight to #1 on Finnish single charts after its release in spring 2010. The music video for "End of Days" from this EP was released throughout Europe and in Japan; it shows footage from the band's 2010 shows in Asia. The European edition of this EP, released in February 2011, contains a bonus DVD with footage of the band's concert at German Summerbreeze Festival 2009.

In February 2011, Tuomas Saukkonen won the Finnish Metal Award in the category "Best Instrumentalist"; Before the Dawn reached #3 in the category "Best Band". Tuomas defended this title successfully in the year 2012 as well.
The new album Deathstar Rising×Deathstar Rising23 February 2011 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1The First Snow1:202Winter Within4:323Deathstar3:314Remembrance3:385Unbroken4:406Judgement4:207The Wake5:088Sanctuary4:539Butterfly Effect3:5410Wreith5:17 cracked the Finnish Album Top 10 and reached #8 in first week of March 2011.
In June 2011 bassist and vocalist Lars and drummer Atte left the band; Lars for personal reasons and Atte for musical reasons.
On 25 January 2012 the band announced on their Facebook page that Rise of the Phoenix would be the title of their new album. It was released through Nuclear Blast Records on 27 April 2012.
On 10 January 2013 through a press statement, Tuomas Saukkonen announced that he was putting Before the Dawn to rest along with his other active bands (Black Sun Aeon and RoutaSielu), ending them in order to create new project called "Wolfheart", which he will entirely focus from now on.
In 2021, Before the Dawn was reformed. On 30 April, the band released the single "The Final Storm×The Final Storm30 April 2021 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1The Final Storm4:51". The single was made for the Deadlight reissue which was released in 9 July 2021. On 7 September 2022 BTD announced that a new member Paavo Laapotti joins the band as a vocalist, while Tuomas takes up live drumming. Laapotti brought attention of the band during The Voice of Finland where he sang a Before the Dawn song called Deadsong. An album titled Stormbringers×Stormbringers30 June 2023 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1The Dawn1:572Destroyer4:313Reveries4:314Downhearted4:505Chains4:526Divided5:027The Dark5:118Chaos Star4:079The Weight5:33 was released on 30 June 2023.
On 7 February 2024, they announced a new EP Archaic Flame×Archaic Flame8 March 2024 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Archaic Flame4:192Chaos Sequence3:253Run to You3:424Dying Sun (live)3:15, its title song is available online. The premiere of the new EP is scheduled to be released on 8 March. It is followed by their ninth studio album, Cold Flare Eternal×Cold Flare Eternal5 September 2025 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Initium1:242Fatal Design3:583As Above, So Below4:304Mercury Blood3:175Stellar Effect4:496Flame Eternal4:217Stronghold4:098Destination4:329Shock Wave4:5410Ad infinitum3:35, released on 5 September 2025.