DREAM EVIL - review added 10th February 2010
Album Review: In The Night (2010)
For fans of: Power Metal... and noise with a capital kaboom
Swedish power metallers Dream Evil have their roots back at the turn of the century when founder member and rhythm guitarist Fredrik Nordström met young Greek guitar wizard Gus G. Cartoon voiced vocalist Niklas Isfeldt and bassist Peter Stålfors joined soon after. The initial iteration of the band was completed by drummer Snowy Shaw.
The Dream Evil line-up nowadays sees Gus G replaced by Daniel Varghamne, and Snowy by Patrik 'Power' Jerksten.
In The Night is the band's 5th studio album, and follows the 2008 live CD/DVD release Gold Medal In Metal. The previous studio album was United from 2006. The newby was produced at Sweden’s Studio Fredman (Dimmu Borgir, In Flames, HammerFall, etc.) which belongs to the band's Fredrik Nordström.
There is no doubt this album is up with Dream Evil's best work. To be honest, they've only recorded one duff album so far, and that still had the incredible 'Made Of Metal' on it. The sound on In The Night is as heavy as anything they have produced before, maybe even heavier in places. The songs themselves range from the brilliant to the breathtaking. The only lesser moments are still better than the good bits on most albums.
Opener 'Immortal' is a monster that hides under your bed and molests your teddy bears. It's simply massive and, by itself, makes most other power metal tracks sound limp-wristed and as camp as a Yorkshire terrier. The title track then comes along and blows it the f*ck away. Song openings don't get any better than the double kick frenzy here. Heavy doesn't even begin to describe the track.
'Bang Your Head' is what Judas Priest would sound like if they got some balls. That Halford-esque shriek is there, only this time surrounded by the sort of guitar, bass and drum work that could kick the cr*p out of a volcano. 'See The Light' starts off like a strange mix of Michael Jackson's 'Beat It' and Bon Jovi's 'You Give Love A Bad Name'...only ten times gnarlier and three times better. The body of the song is huge, lively, and more funky and fun than it has any right to be. Great track.
'Electric' has a great sound. It's a few steps behind the first four entries, but on any normal album this would be a stand out track. It's the same story with 'Frostbite'. The sound is phenomenal, but it's lacking a few percentage points of catchiness. The racy 'On The Wind' is a step in the right direction. I love the Iron-Maiden-alike contagious nature of the track; the pumping lead riff is a real throat grabber.
'The Ballad' is just that: a ballad. However, it's a ballad with a twist - a twist that will leave you open mouthed. It's a huge, slow track with an astonishing symphonic background. The musicianship is beautiful, but the lyrics are positively mad. How does "We believe In love, we believe in drinking beers and booze and wine" grab you? The guys admit the words are a p*ss take, but when a song is this brilliant who cares?!
'In The Fires Of The Sun' is a total change. It's a fast paced effort that again recalls Iron Maiden, mixing it with that classic Dream Evil sound. 'Kill, Burn, Be Evil' is big, aggressive and built around headbanging 'til your noggin falls off. 'The Unchosen One' is more than likely a send-up of 'Chosen Ones' from the first Dream Evil album. Whatever, that symphonic majesty is there again and boy does it lead to a great finish for the album.
In The Night is a kick-ass album, be in no doubt. There is room for improvement, but this is still the best power metal release I've heard in a good long while. Dream Evil don't always get it right, but they certainly have here.
Check out... The title track!
Track List:
01. Immortal
02. In The Night
03. Bang Your Head
04. See The Light
05. Electric
06. Frostbite
07. On The Wind
08. The Ballad
09. In The Fires Of The Sun
10. Mean Machine
11. Kill, Burn, Be Evil
12. The Unchosen One
Label: Century Media
Artist's website(s): Dream Evil , MySpace
