Review & Full Album Premiere: New Dawn Fades, Lores
Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on March 24th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Tomorrow, March 25, Philadelphia heavy rockers New Dawn Fades release their debut full-length, Lores. It’s been three years since the band made its debut with the 2023 EP, Forever (review here), and a few things have changed in that time. Most crucially, they’re a band now. Guitarist/vocalist George “GFA” Chamberlin recorded Forever as a solo-project, whereas the tidy eight songs/38 minutes of Lores see the band realized as a four-piece with Corey Pettingill (Blackhand, ex-Wasted Theory) also on guitar, Algar (also Green Meteor) and drummer Steve Roche (Saetia, Off Minor; he also mixed the album) [editor’s note: I spent five earth minutes tracking down everyone’s other bands before seeing them listed in the PR wire info below, so I’m leaving it. No shit, I Googled Algar. I put in the work.] assembled for the the cause of straight-ahead, semi-Southern-style heavy riffs delivered with classic ’90s-style push.
Pepper Keenan‘s work in Corrosion of Conformity and to a slightly lesser extent Down remains a defining influence. As “Villains Come to Light” gets the proceedings underway with due charge and impact-of-chug, the album speaks to ’90s metal in a riff that feels extrapolated from Megadeth‘s “Symphony of Destruction,” opening to more of a rolling chorus, but telling in terms of the context of where New Dawn Fades are coming from. Chamberlin pushes his voice and his voice holds up without sounding like a hey-whoa-momma dudely put-on, and as “Meet Me at Sundown” unfolds its slower intro, the groove feels like it’s on lock because it is. Start-stop chugs, chug-chug, cha-chug, make way for the chorus and a later ripper solo, while a redux of “True Till Death” — one of two cuts on the album that came from the EP — results in one of New Dawn Fades‘ catchiest moments and a declaration of purpose that feels like it’s celebrating the heavy underground from whence it comes (which has been supportive of the band since they wre a concept) as much as its own allegiance to it. One is wary of authenticity, and I won’t claim to know what ‘truth’ is, period, but the song’s a rocker and you get the point.
Interestingly, “True Till Death” and the other carryover track, side B’s “This Night” (shortened from “This Night Has Closed My Eyes”) are the two longest pieces on Lores. Not by a ton, but one wonders if maybe that speaks to a tightening of the songwriting process over the last few years, or some change in process manifest in light of there presumably being three other people in the room when the songs were coming together. It’s not a huge difference — seconds, not minutes — but the only other song over five minutes long is closer “New Evil,” which basks in a nodding largesse with a slowdown that feels very intentionally placed, if not intentionally written, for the end of the record. That’s not to say at the side-A-capping “Souls” doesn’t have its own plus-sized tonality to show off, which it most certainly does, as well as an edge of feedback to add noise to the outreach. It boogies until slamming into its own wall of sound in a way that feels physically cathartic, prefacing “New Evil,” while the subsequent “Dead Vultures” mirrors “Villains Come to Light” at the start with a kick of energy and catchy, tight execution. Consideration has obviously been given to an overarching flow and structure to the album, much as to each of the songs that make it up. They knew what they were doing on the EP, so that’s not a surprise, necessarily, but still admirable, particularly on a first long-player.
“Dead Vultures” and the Downier “Leave My Loneliness Unbroken” are, in contrast, the two shortest pieces, on Lores, and as effectively as they hit back to back at the start of side B, it’s that much easier to hear growth in New Dawn Fades‘ sound since the EP, but there’s so much going on between building the lineup etc. that it’s hard to say definitively the band will go in one direction or another, which, honestly, I likely wouldn’t try to anyway. Still, for an act on such solid footing stylistically and who so clearly have that early-to-mid-1990s era of heavy music so ingrained, the songs on Lores seem to herald a revelry that’s not retro but that knows where it’s coming from and where it’s headed. Given the strength of craft throughout, the listener is all the more inclined to trust and follow along, and for establishing the band thusly in the mind of its audience, it’s hard to see the mission of Lores as anything but successful.
New Dawn Fades have a few other projects in the works, about which you can read below, courtesy of the PR wire. Lores premieres in full on the player immediately following. Please enjoy:
Preorder link: https://newdawnfadesforever.bandcamp.com/album/lores
New Dawn Fades is a heavy rock band from Philadelphia, blending doom, grunge, and metal influences from bands like Soundgarden, Corrosion of Conformity, Down, Black Sabbath, High on Fire, Queens of the Stone Age, and Mercyful Fate. The band features vocalist and guitarist GFA (Ritual Earth, Halo of Snakes), guitarist Corey Pettingill (Blackhand), bassist Algar (Green Meteor), and drummer Steve Roche (Saetia, Off Minor). Together, they deliver music that’s both heavy and dynamic, combining crushing riffs, strong grooves, raw energy, and melodic vocals with memorable hooks.
Across LORES, New Dawn Fades balances musical intensity with meaningful, thematic lyrics, creating a record that hits hard sonically while resonating emotionally. The album will be available on most major streaming platforms and as a 12-inch colored vinyl, with singles and live show announcements leading up to its release. The band also contributed a new track titled “Electric Midnight” to the BE HERE vinyl compilation, a DIY release featuring 12 bands from the Philadelphia and New Jersey area, due out in summer 2026. In March, New Dawn Fades returns to the studio to record four new songs for a future chapter of the best-selling Ripple Music Turned to Stone 12″ split series, promising even more heavy, hard-hitting music in the near future.
Tracklist:
Side One
1. Villains Come to Light
2. Meet Me at Sundown
3. True Till Death
4. Souls
Side Two
1. Dead Vultures
2. Leave My Loneliness Unbroken
3. This Night
4. New Evil
NEW DAWN FADES is:
GFA – Vocals, Guitars
Corey Pettingill – Guitars
Algar – Bass
Steve Roche – Drums
