Biography
Austrian black metal outfit Golden Dawn unfolded its history across two separate eras. During the opening chapter, founding vocalist and keyboardist Stefan Traunmüller operated largely solo through the early '90s, laying down demos along with scattered tracks destined for independent extreme metal samplers, until he enlisted nearby session players to capture the 1996 album The Art of Dreaming. That release blended ferocious raw black metal with atmospheric synthesizer passages of an avant-garde bent, earning considerable underground acclaim even though scant distribution followed once the band's label, Dark Matter, collapsed. The same misfortune struck their subsequent imprint, Ars Metalli, yet Traunmüller's determination finally yielded a follow-up titled Masquerade, recorded with Karim Kienzleg on guitar, Sebastian Reiter handling guitar and bass, and Moritz Neuner on drums (also of Korova and Abigor). Marking the onset of the band's second phase, the album surfaced in 2003 through Napalm Records, a company that, unlike its predecessors, has managed to remain operational.
Albums
