It was on Dawnbringer’s fourth album that the Chicago band truly succeeded at combining its love for the best of bygone New Wave of British Heavy Metal with a forward-thinking approach to songcraft. Led by multi-instrumentalist Chris Black (also of High Spirits, Superchrist, Pharaoh, and Nachtmystium), Dawnbringer opens 2010’s Nucleus powerfully, galloping on a muscled steed of metal recalling Iron Maiden’s style of flawless doubled guitar leads harmonizing over bolting adventure rock. Conversely, “The Devil” flirts with looser, distorted thrash metal before pulling in the reins to steer into riff-laden topography (like the similarly balanced style perpetuated by San Francisco cult metal band Slough Feg). Dawnbringer’s gift for lacing its riffs with barbed melodic hooks surfaces on “Swing Hard,” a song you could almost describe as catchy. “Cataract” also simmers down into a panoramic soundscape dotted with fretboard shredding.