Colorado based Dreadnought has been one of the more interesting bands in the progressive metal space over the last decade, as their ability to seamlessly balance the ethereal and extreme ends of the musical spectrum resulted in a sound that drew you in but was hard to pin down. My jumping on point was 2015’s Bridging Realms, which had shimmering keyboards, jazzier breaks, and a lot of nods to 70s progressive rock while also bringing in elements of black metal and other heavier elements through its instrumentation and vocals. The group spent a few albums continuing to refine this approach and experiment with different elements, but following Lauren Vieira’s departure after 2019’s Emergence Dreadnought went through a shift. 2022’s The Endless brought two new members Ryan Sims and Emily Shreve into the fold, and while the twin female vocal approach was retained the songs built up in different ways compared to their previous discography. Four years have passed since that effort, and with Shreve departing the band has returned to a four piece and put together their biggest transformation to date. Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light finds Sims stepping in to trade vocals with founder Kelly Schilling, and the approach is noticeably more compact and faster paced than before.
While not every track in Dreadnought’s discography opted for slower and methodical build-ups, the band’s emphasis on post metal/rock type peaks that intertwined with their progressive tendencies meant that their albums often sprawled outwards and took their time. In recent years the lengths have been getting shorter, and at forty minutes Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light is their most compact yet. But that doesn’t mean that the sprawl has been fully lost, as opener “Tiamat’s Gate” cracks the nine-minute mark and is the album’s lengthiest track. It makes an immediate impression with synths that have a noticeably more cosmic sound to them, and there’s a faster and more fluid tempo right from the get-go. This is an incredible opener, as it draws you in quickly with the spacey synths and driving rhythm, but once again showcases how dynamic Dreadnought can be from one minute to the next. The synths work to create this soaring, cinematic sound while the heavier guitar, bass, and drums weave in and out, and around the two-minute mark things slow down to a moodier and more deliberate pace. In true Dreadnought fashion the metallic side of the spectrum takes over towards the end, whipping things up into a flurry of aggressive guitars and blasting drums that feel like a spaceship taking off. From this point on the band experiments with slightly shorter arrangements, with the sci-fi and cinematic flair being a defining element of their writing.
The further into Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light you get, the clearer it becomes just how much Dreadnought has transformed for this effort. Following “Tiamat’s Gate”, “The Archive” initially comes in with haunting and twisted melodies that remind me of Lychgate but then let the guitars and synths ebb and flow in ways that are a bit more like Kayo Dot. Later in the album “Serpents of the Moon” begins with a moodier, bass heavy arrangement where the sparseness of the guitars creates this smokier, barroom vibe, but it launches things back into the stars towards the end with some hints of black metal riffing and a shift into full-on electronica. “Aeonwar” and “The Twilight Protectorate” are on opposite sides of the spectrum, as the former offers some of the most chaotic and aggressive riffs on the entire album while the latter lightens up and comes through like more of a take on traditional prog rock and krautrock with its repeating synths. Despite how quickly the material seems to fly by, there are specific synth lines and riffs that grab you the first time through and the soaring sci-fi cinema vibe suits the band well.
One of the defining elements of Dreadnought’s discography was the interplay between both vocalists, and with Ryan Sims now taking the second spot alongside Kelly Schilling it changes the dynamic of the performance. You still get plenty of softer and ethereal pitches from Schilling alongside her trademark shrieks, but the way that these switch off with Sims’ singing and screaming makes for some truly memorable moments. One of the first that stood out for me early on was “The Archive”, where Sims employs a lower growl that adds noticeably more weight and grit to the band’s sound and works well with Schilling’s varying pitches. On the other end of the spectrum, “Colors of Our Broken Hearts” finds Sims shifting to a somber singing pitch as well as some spoken word. It’s this type of shake up that make this material feel so different from Dreadnought’s previous albums, and while some may miss the trade off between the two haunting and ethereal singing pitches the back and forth here is fantastic. The only part that stands out to me in a bad way is the spoken word at the end of “Aeonwar”, which feels just a bit awkward transitionally.
Dreadnought’s latest effort reminds me of the contrast between Dark Castle’s first and second albums, where that band went from a slower and exploratory approach to a much more direct and compact one. There are still plenty of unexpected progressive flourishes and the crushing peaks of post metal, but the emphasis on cinematic atmosphere and a sci-fi aesthetic transforms things in exciting ways. It’s a wild ride for all forty minutes, and the moves from weightier, aggressive moments into shimmering melodies is entrancing. Where some of their discography may have felt like incremental refinement, this latest album blows things wide open and showcases a new and exciting side of this long running band. Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light is available from Metal Blade Records / Vesperian GmbH.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg