By Alex Richings
Vampire Valentine return again from beyond the grave with their follow up to Dry Remains and second release of 2026, Pale Dawn.
It’s an interesting development from their previous record, released only in January this year. The production and focus are clear, and a few interesting textural ideas breathe life into here too, in spite of it still being a fairly basic musical formula. This record feels like a direct continuation of its predecessor, which is to be expected from the second release in the space of only three months.
Pale Dawn opens and closes with an instrumental dirge. As a fan of both ambient music and this structural cliche, I could listen to a whole album of the closer, Bleak Delusions. This bookending is the best way to approach such excessively miserable, aggressive or discordant music, it acts as an airlock, into – and out of – the album experience.
Whilst a fairly traditional sounding darkwave record, Pale Dawn can hit like Arab Strap at midnight. The lead single, Tears, and Crimson both collectively groan under the weight of their own angst. Tears features the synthesised dissolution of the soul as a midsection, which is a nice, suitably thematic touch.
The onomatopoeic Pulse gasps and throbs like the music for a sewer level on a PS1 game, followed by guitar-driven instrumental Fangs. As the most energetic track, Fangs serves as palate-cleansing zest right before the Shavasana of Bleak Delusions, marking the point where Vampire Valentine shuffle away back into the darkness of the cold northern bleak.
In spite of the atmospheres conjured on Pale Dawn, it unfortunately isn’t without flaw. While evidently a modest step forward for VV for such a short space of time, I think the band is yet to achieve their final form. I welcome the tightening of production and songs having a bit more bite (vampire pun not intended) however there are still some tracks here that are somewhat repetitive – which, admittedly, is a staple of the genre.
You can listen to Vampire Valentine’s music on all the usual streaming spots, including on their Bandcamp
You can follow them online here
And listen on Spotify here:
