dreamshade what silence hides

Released: 21 March 2011 Label: Spinefarm

This is the first full length release by Dreamshade, a Swedish six piece outfit formed in 2006. So, it’s taken this band five years to produce their first album. Not exactly churning them out, are they? Initial impressions are of progressive, melodic musicianship, but once that vocal kicks in, that impression is quickly dispelled.

Let me be clear. I don’t appreciate screaming vocals. I just don’t see the point, especially when the vocalist is capable of producing clean vocals that sound so much more suitable for the music. The screaming on this album is, to me, a distraction from some of the truly excellent musicianship going on in the background. Some of the tracks have brief interludes of clean vocals that are like a breath of fresh air through an insanely overheated venue.

Apart from the vocals, the guitar and keyboards work well together and result in some occasionally mellow sounds, but more often in fast and aggressive riffs. Production is tight, perhaps leaving the sound a bit on the ‘thin’ side, although tweaking my sound system helped the balance. (Why should I have to do that?).

Soundwise, there’s an obvious nod to Children of Bodom with the keyboard work and those dreadful vocals (CoB are better at them), but the overall impression is of prog / power metal meets metalcore, and it just doesn’t work for me.

by Alan Thomson