'Dawn Ray'd' consist of Liverpudlian trio, Simon Barr, the band's vocalist, violinist and primary lyricist, guitarist Fabian Devlin and drummer Matthew Broadley and takes its name from de Cleyre's 1898 poem Santa Agueda, which chronicles the 1897 death of the Premier of Spain. Simon and Fabian met back in 2008 and quickly started a 'screamo' band, 'We Came Out like Tigers' who put out five releases in six years. They also toured with Matthew’s band, 'Black Mass' and, after asking him to fill in on a few tours, the skeleton of 'Dawn Ray'd' was formed. In 2015, the band released a vicious debut EP, 'A Thorn, A Blight' and made it apparent that their 'screamo' days were over. They had been talking about starting a straight up black metal band even when they were still in their previous band, so instantly knew what this new band would be, although they describe themselves as as more of a folk-black metal outfit. They played their first show in London after about 4 months of writing the songs, and toured before they had their first EP out, and have toured pretty constantly since then.
They started from the first day as a 'political band', and played countless gigs at anarchist squats and DIY punk spaces around Europe. Taking a stance as militant antifascist, anti-capitalist anarchists has always been intrinsic to their very existence, and they've never been shy about sharing their political affiliations. Their first album released in 2017, 'The Unlawful Assembly', is atmospheric black metal with a violin accompaniment and has been labelled one of the best heard in 2017.
Their revolutionary opinions come into even sharper focus on their second album, 'Behold Sedition Plainsong' which was released in October 2019 again by Prosthetic Records. This album makes it even more clear which side they are on in the current global struggle against capitalism and white supremacist fascism and carries on the mission that their explosive debut embarked upon in 2017. Their second album is not just a cathartic release of anger, but a clarion call for how to survive crisis and come together. Including political projects, messaging, and fundraising into their shows, the band hopes this can be a transition point into doing the work on the ground. They are using their merchandising money to support unhoused communities in Liverpool and Leeds to meet their basic needs in the midst of the health crisis.
They had been touring endlessly, only taking a short break to record, before the performance industry was shuttered to a halt by the pandemic. Now they are writing the next album, but have to wait until they can safely enter the same room together before those tracks fully come together. In just a matter of three years, they have completely shattered expectations about what black metal can be, and, along with comrades around the world, they are rebuilding the scene into something more familiar and vital to their community. Which is, in the end, all we have to rely on. No one will do it for us. We have to do it ourselves. On their Facebook page in December 2021 they posted, "Writing for album 3 is complete. We head to the studio early next year! We can’t wait for you to hear it!"
see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/02/pool-of-sound-peaness.html
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