Allen/Olzon: Army of Dreamers

Army of Dreamers is the follow-up to the debut album by the melodic power metal trio of Russell Allen on vocals (Symphony X), Anette Olzon also on vocals (ex-Nightwish), American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist (bass, keyboards, production) Magnus Karlsson, and Anders Köllerfors on drums.

Allen/Olzon is a place where the very talented singer Anette feels very comfortable, there’s no operatic demand and the music is less symphonic and bombastic, is also less complex than Symphony X, so we are talking about straight forward melodic metal with some power metal nuances, a combination that forces Russell to deliver his less dramatic and aggressive vocal performance, which by the way is fantastic.

Magnus is a magnificent guitar player and composer and has found a non-less magnificent vocal duo on Allen & Olzon, their sound is very cohesive and balanced, like something that was supposed or designed to happen. Every song here is really good, with a couple of standouts, the hooks are all over the place, the metallic sound of the riffs very well achieved, all solos memorable, and it sounds so very well… There are though a few moments where Olzon’s nasal and more childish pitch takes the song onto more commercial and mainstream grounds, sometimes it even hurts! but… is that even bad? The album has been on “solo� rotation on my player for the past fifty plus hours… so at the end it doesn’t seem to even matter right? perhaps I just felt the need to ventilate that sensation. About those standouts… “So Quiet Here�, “A Million Skies�, “All Alone�, “Look at Me�, and “Are We Really Strangers�. An album that could easily be part of my “guilty pleasure� listens, catchy as hell and quite memorable, very solid. Can’t leave without emphasizing how talented a guitar player Mr. Karlsson is, outstanding.

Track Listing:

1. Army of Dreamers (4:31)
2. So Quiet Here (4:48)
3. Out of Nowhere (4:31)
4. A Million Skies (5:19)
5. Carved into Stone (4:01)
6. All Alone (6:16)
7. Look at Me (4:48)
8. Until it’s Over (5:28)
9. I am Gone (4:21)
10. Are We Really Strangers (4:34)
11. Never Too Late (5:17)

Added: September 3rd 2022
Reviewer: Jose Antonio Marmol
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 994
Language: english

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