How often you knock against metal with elements of a lullaby? Not very often.
And metal album which grips you after the first listening to it? Maybe even less. But this one is an exception. Only a dream, can kill a dream is literally like a dream. With all the power metal and jazz elements and influences with dreamy melodies and meaningful lyrics the album is like a bright star on the dark sky of new metal releases.
An intro Only a
Dream... beginning like Twinkle, twinkle isn’t that surprising considering the name of the album but following key passage is magical and as a whole, it is a full-fledged intro for a full –fledged album. Spoke Of The
Devil, which comes right after, is a successful fusion of the power metal, catchy guitars and very classy keys. With a great work of drums, the composition is a demonstration of the band’s technical and composing skills. Right after that, the vocals are showed in
Gate of
Hell. I must admit that Leonidas’s vocal range is something that a metal singer should be really proud of. The lyrics are quite usual for a genre of melodic power metal – devils, hell, devils, dragons, fighting, loneliness and devils – but still satisfactory for a listener.
Instrumental Goodbye is full of melancholy, naive anticipation, hope and sadness and with guitars, sounds of rainstorm and some retro tunes it makes a whole which perfectly fits into the atmosphere of the album.
Despite the missing vocals, while listening to it you can clearly imagine the wordy.
Beginning like a song from an old cabaret, continuing like a metal song with few southern elements, I Believe is a very good piece and a parade of the best skills of all of the members. The keys, which make the biggest part of the whole good impression, have great solos there as well as the guitar has one. The small break full of mellowness is a work of female vocals and the last chorus encloses the whole song and gives space for the fourth instrumental track, Flash of The Crush, again full of the hopeful atmosphere.
The Place is a song fully dedicated to female vocals. With very similar melody base as in I Believe but much more pop-like elements I’d call this one a metal lullaby. It is a beautiful ballade and the singer,
Marina, has an incredibly pleasant voice.
Anyway, to the brutal metalheads I recommend not to listen to this song because it has so much sweetness that not everyone can bear. Of course it doesn’t make the song worse.
Last Sunset (Grand Finale) is good but honestly not as grand as the name tells. Melodic parts are interesting as always but even a well proved chorals or child voice (with a slight accent) telling a poem don’t always make a composition “grand.” It still doesn’t harm you but in surrounding of the other great songs it loses a little of its impressiveness. The whispered “
Wake up” is an appetizer of the end as well as the whole ...Can
Kill a
Dream.
To be honest, the first look on the booklet made me think a little sceptic about what to wait from the album but in general it was a really pleasant surprise. The melodies, the lyrics, the technique... this everything is very well balanced and connected to a complex yet still simple and not gaudy piece. The band has great skills and potential and I’ll be looking really forward to their other works.
You must be logged in to add a comment