Broadjam Artist: The Haunted North
Song: Without a Dawn
Broadjam Pro Reviewer:
Todd Herfindal (Songwriter, Musician, Producer, Engineer, Indie Record Label)
Pro General Comments: A solid, hard rock ensemble styled brooding ballad featuring some of the signature sounds, overall vibe, tones, feel of the grunge era heyday. The lead vocal has some nice, intense emotion and a strong performance and delivery. Arrangement wise the song's structure resembles a kind of verse/lift/chorus approach, which works fairly well here. No bridge here except for the chorus lift or pre-chorus, if you will. The guitar solo after 2nd chorus works effectively to provide some sectional contrast and momentum. Cool "wah-wah" action in that guitar solo BTW!The verse melody starts in a lower range and has a pretty dark vibe, then nicely modulates up an octave the 2nd time around. The pre-chorus lifts in a way that isn't expected, then releasing nicely into the longer-held notes of the chorus melody.No lyrics were included for my reference, but I can tell you the lyrics generally serve the loneliness, sorrow and darker emotional themes of this track. I will say that it took several listens to really hear the many of the lyrics. This may suggest that the lead vocals are mixed a little too low, which is pretty common. In this case the singer is strong so from where I'm sitting, it seems appropriate to turn the volume up on those lead vocals. Musically the signature riff that opens the track serves as a strong underpinning to the verse melodies that come later. I will say that the nearly 30 second intro feels a bit long. If editing were an option, I might consider trimming it in half. This would help get the song under 4 mins, which could be useful to you depending on your goals for the song.
Quote From Pro: A solid, hard rock ensemble styled brooding ballad featuring some of the signature sounds, overall vibe, tones, feel of the grunge era heyday.