Golden Dawn was formed in 1992 by Stefan Traunmüller (aka „Dreamlord“) as one-man band. The musical approach was rooted in the second wave of Black Metal but on early demo songs Golden Dawn was also inspired by Doom Metal and Bathory’s “Viking era”. The first demo called “Lullaby” was self-released in 1994 in a very low quantity, in 1995 a split-demo with the Dark Ambient side project called Apeiron was released via the French label “Impure Creations Records” (later Velvet Music). Despite the poor recording quality Golden Dawn caught the attention of Ray (Pazuzu) and Martin Schirenc (Pungent Stench, later Hollenthon), who invitied Golden Dawn to take part on the compilation album “A.B.M.S. – Norici Obsurca Pars” along with Pervertum, Trifixion, Pazuzu, Knechte des Schreckens and Vuzem (pre-Hollenthon).
The two Golden Dawn tracks on this album as well as the third demo “Way of the Sorcerer” got good critics throughout the Black Metal underground and so the recording of the debut album “The Art of Dreaming” in 1996 was the logical next step. The blend of medieval-sounding keyboards, harsh Black Metal with blast beats and high screams and some dreamy Ambient parts was very innovative at that time. The lyrics dealt with shamanism and occult philosophy. The original release of “The Art of Dreaming” (later it was re-released by Napalm Records) via Dark Matter Records is a collector’s piece nowadays. It earned a good reputation, among others it was album of the month in the French Metallian magazine. Recently “The Art of Dreaming” was honoured as a classic Black Metal milestone in the Norwegian Scream Magazine.
Unfortunately the label Dark Matter Records ceased to exist before the second Golden Dawn album “Sublimity” could be released. The recordings were already finished in 1998 but the album remained unmixed and unreleased. In 2001 Stefan Traunmüller recruited the guitarists Karim Kienzle and Sebastian Reiter for the work on the new album “Masquerade”. On “Masquerade” Golden Dawn enriched their Black Metal style with influences from Power and Gothic Metal, the album was released by Napalm Records. The drums were played by Moritz Neuner, well-known from bands like Dornenreich, Graveworm or Abigor.
After the release the line-up split up and Golden Dawn continued as a solo project. The collaboration with Jasper Werhahn and Fabian Ziegler from the progressive Black Metal band Atrorum led to a new album that was already pre-produced but was rejected by Napalm Records, who had already grown to a big, commercial label. Being bored by the Metal scene and unwilling to write more melodic or even Gothic-styled songs Stefan Traunmüller decided not to follow that commercial direction with Golden Dawn. He concentrated on setting up his own recording studio “Soundtempel Studio” and started to produce several Metal bands, including the Norwegian Black Metal project Wallachia and the Austrian Pagan Metal band Bifröst.
After several years of very little work on Golden Dawn the new album “Return to Provenance” took shape in 2009. The whole music and lyrics were written by Stefan Traunmüller within only 3 months, intendedly without too much melodic or experimental songwriting. “Return to Provenance” sounds pure, energetic and melancholic, without being too polished. Golden Dawn does not want to keep track with the commercialized fast-food Metal scene, therefore the offer from the small but dedicated label Non Serviam Records to release “Return to Provenance” was accepted with pleasure.
