Some bands are simply brimming with ideas. It feels like it was just last year I last reviewed the UK’s Dawnwalker—because it was just last year, and Mark Norgate apparently has a lot on his mind. It’s been fewer than five years since I first reviewed Dawnwalker, and this is my fourth time penning their reviews. The albums, however, could not be more different. From Ages to The Unknowing, Dawnwalker have tread genres, influences, styles, and ideas. Musicians have come and gone and come back again. But Norgate’s vision is the constant, alongside a healthy respect for progressive metal—and boundary-pushing. The Between is their seventh full-length since 2012 and represents their most ambitious undertaking yet: a thirty-two-minute, single-song album.

The Between follows the progression of Dawnwalker’s sound through House of Sand and The Unknowing, with elements of progressive, post, and folk metal, and influence from New Age. It meditates on the processes of death and dying, taking inspiration from Eastern philosophies. In this theme, it opens slowly and quietly: “Listen carefully,” we are told; “There is nothing to fear.” As The Between progresses, the protagonist walks a long road, and Dawnwalker follows, with everything from ethereal choral work (Sofia Sourianou), quiet introspective guitars (Matteo Bianciotto), and Norgate’s soulful singing to the blackened death frenzy in part four.¹ Oli Genn-Bash’s saxophone is an unexpected hero, creating quiet, warm, and otherworldly ambience in part two. For the heavier moments, the return of Dane Cross as a harsh vocalist is welcome throughout. Standout moments include Norgate and Sourianou’s call-and-repeat singing in part eleven, the duet between Norgate and Cross in part three, and Alexander Brown’s terrific guitar solo that closes out part thirteen.

There’s a lot of ground to cover over the course of the thirty-two minutes, but The Between is filled with natural transitions and logical direction. Certainly, there are single-song albums that feel like they could have track breaks,² but the progressive nature of Dawnwalker’s music is strong enough that this only really happens once, in part nine. The ebb and flow is impressive; part seven is a grinding march, where growling and screaming duel off, guitars chugging away, and builds in intensity. Part eight then dials back on the metal significantly, letting Norgate’s vocal melodies carry the day. The New Age influence is growing stronger, and there’s a lovely callback to The Unknowing³. This in turn, is a great transition into part nine, filled with dreamy ambience before the song picks up again. This helps The Between to feel like it actually is one song, or, at most, a single song in two parts.

Although The Between succeeds at feeling like a single song, it doesn’t quite reach the level of feeling like a complete album—though it comes very close. There are enough cool ideas, themes, and motifs throughout to fill out an album, but the way they’re cut and fit together means some don’t get to breathe the way they might have otherwise. The closest thing “The Between” has to a chorus, for example, is in part three, a gorgeous earworm of a passage that repeats once and never shows its face again. In part fourteen, the narrator begins to fade from us. Thematically, it’s a natural way to close things out, but it’s also drawn out in a way that only really works before there’s been so much build-up. As a result, “The Between” feels like it might have been a twenty-eight-minute song padded out to complete its identity as an album. This is ultimately not a big deal—thirty-two minutes is very succinct for a metal album—but it does take away a little bit of impact.

Writing a half-hour song in any context is a mighty undertaking, and it’s impressive how well Norgate and Dawnwalker pull it off on The Between. The music feels organic, the themes are relevant, and the execution is very good. This is one of those albums that rewards repeat listens and draws you in more than you realize at first glance. Dawnwalker is having an impressive run of late, and The Between confidently continues their trajectory.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Independent Release
Websites: dawnwalker.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/dawnwalkeruk
Releases Worldwide: October 24th, 2025

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