In 2020 Dawnrazer announced themselves to the darksynth / cyberpunk music scene with what is arguably one of the greatest albums to come from that scene as a whole, Tokyo Dark. Several dozen playlists featured it and it seemed like an almost inescapable no matter where you went in the dark scene; this may have also been brought on by the sheer influence from Cyberpunk 2077 dominating news and music highlights. Nonetheless, Tokyo Dark stood out from the crowd thanks to sharp production techniques and bigger-than-life bass.
Since then Dawnrazer has had a somewhat tumultuous time releasing music; between the release of Tokyo Dark and their 2026 effort, a few EPs were put out on Bandcamp only for them to disappear later. The project didn’t hide this fact and stated that they weren’t happy with the quality of the songs. A bit of silence since then and BAM. Right at the end of 2026 they’re back with another magnum opus titled Gesshoku. This album contains both original and completely reworked songs from the prior EPs and package them together in an addictive and powerful twelve-track album.
A Song for Ghosts is as good a place to start as any; distorted bass punches through cinematic atmosphere before we’re given a dirty club rhythm that wouldn’t feel out of place in the Maelstrom’s Totentanz. Perfectly staged vocals sound more like an instrument than a voice, faded in the background and popping out of what seems like a static TV with gritty synths underneath it all. It’s four-minutes-and-fifty-eight seconds of non-stop sci-fi bliss that gives me goosebumps everytime I listen to it.
Internet Famous is another standout track on the album that’s equal parts blunt social commentary and club banger. In an age where live streaming is becoming more and more popular Dawnrazer simply states, “Did you do something that people liked / Too late to stop now / No time to cry”. This dialog delivered by a robotic voice is amplified by some hard rhythmic noise like beats; really slamming basslines with tons of distortion and noise backing it that I feel echoes what its like going down the internet famous rabbit hole.
In between all the heavy bass and clubs beats are these wondrous cinematic and world-building tracks such as the title track itself and Megatokyo Skyline. Gesshoku feels like a late-night ride taking place, someone’s on a mission, a pulse and tension coming off as electronic notes peeking through the sublime; you hear the sounds of motorcycles whizzing by and hovercraft ascending and descending, the creaking of unfinished skyscrapers. Lighter synths toil in the background adding another excellent layer, whilst rougher metallic percussion adds an edge later in the song. It’s like a song that builds tension before a dramatic moment in a movie or game.
Megatokyo Skyline follows a similar structure in the sense that it begins off slow and cinematic but there’s thicker synth layers throughout and it’s less peaceful than it is tense. Basslines rumble underneath gorgeous reverberating synths adding onto the taut mood.
What I also appreciate about Dawnrazer is that, in a sea of darksynth artists swinging out into the void, I feel like they have their own heavy and unique style in comparison to most others. It’s loud, it’s noisy, it has some industrial-tinged textures, it has some classic darksynth tropes; everything they do carries a Dawnrazer signature and it’s extremely well done.
Gesshoku seemingly came out of nowhere; hardly any promotion or marketing and caught me with my pants down. And now it’s in contention for being my album of the year; so late in the calendar year yet it’s completely blown me away. Hoping this comes onto Spotify soon so I can add a bunch of these songs to my INDUSTRIAL WORKOUTS playlist, but we shall see. Dawnrazer, I’m asking nicely.
