Originally a solo project by Patryk Pigeon, Howling Syn has already achieved moderate fame since they began in Quebec, Canada in 1998. Their numerous demos, released via mp3.com, have earned them a significant fan base and they even reached the top spot in the Quebec metal charts. "Forebearers of Dusk" is Howling Syn's eagerly awaited first studio album, bringing together the range of dark styles that they demonstrated with their previous releases. The MP3.com description reads "Dark Theatrical Goth Medieval Metal", which about sums them up, though Howling Syn have really created their own genre here.

"Forebearers of Dusk" is quite an ambitious effort. Not only because of the style they play, but the album itself is divided into two concepts or 'chapters' (titled "Dark Tales of Rage and Romance" and "The War of Avalon") with the final track as an epilogue. I can't recall listening to a gothic metal album with such a layout before, certainly not a debut album, so this was something new for me. Musically, there's no one band that Howling Syn can be compared with. Some tracks have an epic power metal aura, akin to Nightwish, while others are more atmospheric. "Black Moon", my personal favourite, features an electronic intro and is actually quite catchy. If I had to name just one band it would be After Forever, though they lack the medieval influences of Howling Syn.

What makes this album special in my opinion is the theatrical aspect; I couldn't imagine a more perfect soundtrack to Halloween. The only flaws for me were that while both the vocalists were generally great throughout, the lyrics were sometimes questionable and I found the male vocals tedious at times (reminding me of the male vocalist on the latest Theatre of Tragedy albums, who lets them down in my opinion). However, these are too minor and infrequent occurrences to keep this from being a quality album and it was probably inevitable that, amongst the mixture of different styles, I would find something I didn't like.

"Forebearers of Dusk" is the most original album I've heard in a while and in this case, that's a good thing. Fans of gothic metal should definitely check this out.

by Mike Cartmell