|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dreaming Dead: Within One
 From California comes Dreaming Dead, a blackened thrash/death metal act fronted and founded by vocalist/guitarist Elizabeth Schall. Sounding somewhat like a cross between Death and Cradle of Filth, with a little Slayer thrown in for good measure, Within One is the band's debut for Ibex Moon Records, and features cover art from Travis Smith, who has also worked with Opeth, Nevermore, and many other metal and prog acts. Pretty heavy stuff here, the band certainly have their thrash and death metal chops together, tunes like "Stairs Into the Vortex" and the title cut mash and pummel with great intensity, guitars ripping into the mix and plenty of wild drumming to go along with Schall's Chuck Schuldiner-meets-Dani Filth demonic wailing. "Putrid In the Sky" is a real progressive metal gem, reminding somewhat of Death's more adventurous period, even a bit of Opeth as well, the band layering lots of textures and melodies, a trait that carries over into "War Machine" as well as closing number "Manslaughter". Elsewhere, there's plenty of blasting and brutality on "Perpetual Pretext", "Cursed", and "Shadows in the Dark", Schall and second guitarist Leslie Medina (that's right, two female lead guitarists in this band!) really ripping it up, delivering a multitude of harmony lines, solos, and thrashy riffs. Juan Ramirez (bass) and Mike Caffell (drums/vocals) round out the line-up, and add their intense parts with plenty of aggression and power. As solid as Within One is, I think their best is yet to come, as this debut shows a young band that is still figuring out their way, and I think if they expand on the more progressive tendencies they show here, they will certainly be onto something big.
Track Listing
01. Stairs Into the Vortex
02. Within One
03. Putrid Is the Sky
04. Shadows In the Dark
05. Cursed
06. War Machine
07. Perpetual Pretext
08. Manslaughter
Added: January 14th 2009
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:  
Related Link: Band's MySpace Page
Hits: 2549
Language: english
[  Printer Friendly Page ]
[  Send to a Friend ] |
|
[ Back to the Reviews Index ]
|
|
| » SoT Staff Roundtable Reviews: |
Dreaming Dead: Within One
Posted by Ken Pierce, SoT Staff Writer on 2009-01-14 09:50:21
My Score:
Within One is the powerful debut CD from California's Dreaming Dead and it comes to us on Ibex Moon Records. The band is an interesting mix of Old School Thrash Metal meets a crushing Black Metal/Death Metal crossover and judging by the musical chops laid down on the release it is clear that the band is good at what they do. Fronted by guitarist/vocalist Elizabeth Schall, the band offers up several quick comparisons in style and theme. There is a lot of the vocal style of Cradle Of Filth's Dani being done by Elizabeth and that intrigued me especially with her being female. It's not a tone that I expected to come from a woman but she also sings in the conventional guttural growl that fans of this kind of band would expect in such a band. It opens with the uncompromising "Stairs Into The Vortex" and with this one the band immediately draws you into the mayhem that will keep you on the edge of your seat for the rest of the release. Elements of bands like Death and Slayer abound and maybe a little Opeth for good measure based on the creative melodic changes and interludes that they present. It was cool to find slow changes and mellower sections coming into play before the blistering blast beat drumming on tracks like "Putrid Is The Sky" and this one is perhaps my first favorite on the release. Elizabeth is joined on guitar by Leslie Medina which makes the outfit equal parts male and female and I had to say that it was really cool to find two female members in a band of this kind as opposed to their being another symphonic thing where the girls are singing opera or playing keyboards. While I love those kinds of bands, I just mean that it is nice to see some serious ass kicking being done by women in a Metal band that is an up and comer. It's also good for the young female singers to be who aspire more to the like of Angela Gossow than Tarja Turunen or Annette Olzon.
The capable guitar work is complimented by some insanely powerful drumming care of Mike Caffell who demonstrates a number of different Metal skills all across the album and with Juan Ramirez on bass the entire project is held together firmly. Fans of technical Metal that borderlines on the extreme will enjoy this band and find tunes like "Shadows In The Dark" and "Perpetual Pretext" as their favorites based on the numerous time signature changes and grooves. "Cursed" has a lot of that pure Black Metal feel to it and I was instantly reminded of riffs from the glory days of Emperor and their kind when it began to play. The albums eight tracks ends with "Manslaughter" which oddly enough the groups original name before running with Dreaming Dead, and while it begins with slow guitar and moody thunder in the background it soon becomes a Thrash Metal feast that will get the bodies moving on the floor during a performance. This was a great CD and the band really has some potential based on what they showcased here. I look forward to their development and hope to be able to catch them doing this stuff in the live sense soon. Recommended for fans of the darker Thrash and definitely those who enjoy levels of Extreme or Blackened Death type of stuff. There is not a boring moment on the album which was a refreshing change. The cover and artwork were provided by Travis Smith who many know full well from the stuff he had done for Opeth over the years.
|
|
|
|
© 2004 Sea Of Tranquility | For information regarding where to send CD promos and advertising, please see our FAQ page.
If you have questions or comments, please Contact Us.
Please see our Policies Page for Site Usage, Privacy, and Copyright Policies.
|
All logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owner. The comments are property of their posters, all other content © Sea of Tranquility
SoT is Hosted by SpeedSoft.com 
|
|
