Fragments Of Unbecoming – Dawnbringer: Chapter VII The Amber Emperor

Written by on 25-05-2025 at 20:30.

We all have some records in our collection that don’t get played for a long time. But when you happen to come across them and you put them on again, you quickly realize why that particular record was gathering dust in your collection. Such as The Everhaunting Past: Chapter IV A Splendid Retrospection by the German melodic death/black metal band Fragments Of Unbecoming. It has been months, if not years, since I played that record, but considering album number seven Dawnbringer: Chapter VII The Amber Emperor has been released, I will probably be playing that one again as well.

Fragments Of Unbecoming has been a better than simply fine band for years, or should I say decades, numbering their albums as if they were chapters in a life. This seventh album also got a number and also fantastic artwork made by band member Sascha Ehrich. This band has been on quite some big and even bigger labels, such as Metalblade Records or Cyclone Empire, but since the previous album from 2018, we are obviously talking about chapter six here, the band has been in Apostasy Records’s stable. A German label that has quite a few melodic death/black metal bands on its list.

This seventh chapter collects ten new songs as well as two older ones that have been given a fresh makeover. Fragments Of Unbecoming is the oldest of the two, originally dating back to 2002 and having appeared on Bloodred Tales: Chapter I The Crimson Season indeed. The Art Of Coming Apart appeared on the eponymous fifth album in 2012 and was released via Cyclone Empire Records.

How marvelous are those twin leads, combined with driving cymbal work, followed by thundering double bass lines and all-consuming evil vocals. These Germans still know how to grab you by the back of your neck. Dawnbringer is an excellent first song to start the album. You can feel and hear very well where the band gets its spicy mustard from. It is particularly strong how complete the music with clattering bass can grab you by the back of your neck and throat at the same time throughout the album.

Tracks like Broken Breath Of Time and Devoured By Cold with dark, deep throat gurgles and at times melancholic, pinchy guitar playing, or To Everyone And None, with those waltzing chords that follow yet another melodic lead part, really do bear the signature of this talented band. Don’t forget to appreciate the slightly shorter bangers like In Times Of Doom. However, the gentlemen have saved the best for last, and I’m not talking about the reworked versions of the older songs, but about Lakespectre. It is a melodic death/black metal gem of almost eight minutes that uses quite a few Scandinavian greats as example.

In short, the German melodic death/black metal friends of Fragments Of Unbecoming have once again managed to capture all attention with their seventh album Dawnbringer: Chapter VII The Amber Emperor. Great job!

Score:

85/100

Label:

Apostasy Records, 2025

Tracklisting:

  1. Dawnbringer
  2. Among The Shades
  3. Broken Breath Of Time
  4. To Everyone And None
  5. Thou Shalt Eternally Wander
  6. The Amber Emperor
  7. Caught In The Endless
  8. In Times Of Doom
  9. Devoured By Cold
  10. Lakespectre
  11. The Art Of Coming Apart (2025)
  12. Fragments Of Unbecoming (2025)

Line-up:

  • Ingo Maier – Drums
  • Sascha Ehrich – Guitar
  • Stefan Weimar – Guitar, vocals
  • Sam Anetzberger – Vocals
  • Christopher Körtgen – Bass guitar

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