When Dream And Day Unite

EP from these Italian power metal kings.

"One of my greatest pleasures as both a reviewer and a music fan in general is introducing people to bands that they may have failed to take notice of before; with that in mind, I bring you a review of Theocracy’s Mirror of Souls. Unfortunately missing review in 2008 by MR.com (Though all the better for me), MoS is nothing less than a masterpiece of the power metal genre; with its towering melodies, stunning musicianship, fantastic vocals, and a friggin’ colossal title track, Theocracy set its competition ablaze with holy fire and created what is not only one of the best power metal albums of the 00’s, but the best Christian music album I have EVER heard. Now personally, when I think of Christian power metal, I think of bands that are heavy on pretty melodies yet are lacking any sort of heaviness or aggression. The case is not so here. Though the melodies and choruses carry some of the most beautiful and grandiose moments in all of power metal, the rhythm guitar has a very nice, loud crunch to it, and the drums (especially the snare) are always very crisp and punchy. And Theocracy uses this heavy sound to their advantage; Laying the Demon to Rest almost leans more toward a speedy, galloping thrash track while simultaneously taking rests to showcase a slower, wonderful chorus that would put most Christian hymns to shame. Also, the massive Mirror of Souls is chock full of riffs that are just plain heavy, as is needed for some portions of the song’s story… but more on that later. But fans of the highly melodic styles of bands like Stratovarius and Gamma Ray will find enough songs that follow in the particular vein that they prefer to warrant a listen, as well. A Tower of Ashes, On Eagles Wings, and Absolution Day all follow a more traditional, melodic path. Though these kinds of songs have all been done before, the way Theocracy writes and executes them is superb, and some of the melodies are truly unconventional. The chorus of Absolution Day, for example, has a rather poppy quality to it, though the choirs in the background combined with Matt Smiths amazing voice make for a melody that’s spine chilling and entirely uplifting at the same time. There’s also a very nice “Ballad” here, Bethlehem, that I believe deserves to be brought into the mainstream as a Christmas classic to challenge Silent Night and the like. Before Mirror of Souls' culminating title track arrives, two more songs are presented to us, The Writing in the Sand and Martyr. The former is a slower paced track that’s still plenty heavy and has some really neat vocal melodies; the latter is more of a traditional heavy metal song with progressive riffing that is instantly memorable. There’s even some acoustic, latin riffing towards the end that somehow doesn’t come across as silly. MoS is an album that grabs you and refuses to let go; not only because of the impeccable music, but also because of the lyrics. Though this has been mentioned in MR’s review of Theocracy’s debut, the lyrics are in no way preachy or designed to make you feel inferior because you don’t share the band’s beliefs. Rather, the songs tell stories about overcoming the impossible odds the world faces you with through the help of God. Even if you aren’t a Christian, these words are wholly inspiring and make you hope and look forward to a better world and a better future. And now we come to Mirror of Souls’s perfect, stunning title track which deserves an entire review, let alone just a paragraph about it. This twenty two minute, twenty six second epic represents every aspect of Theocracy’s sound, introduces more progressive elements than the band has ever used, and also tells a story that perfectly tells the message Theocracy wants you to receive. It tells the story of a man’s dream where he takes a journey through a hall of mirrors, a dark, rainy landscape, and arrives at one final mirror where his true soul to revealed to him in the glass. It’s a really clever set-up; the hall of mirrors at the beginning represents the eyes of the man’s peers and how each of them view him by his behavior around him. The dreadful, seemingly endless plain of darkness is stands for a journey through life that’s lived without God. And the mirror at the end, where the man discovers a horrible, deformed figure in the reflection, is how God sees the man when his life is infected with sin. The story is far more emotional and skillfully told than I make it out to be here, but the music itself is simply perfect for the tale. The music is constantly swelling between soft and aggressive, triumphant and horrible, and some of the shifts are so seamless that you may not even realize what happened at first. I’ll leave the major details of this masterpiece for the listener to discover; I simply can’t justify just how seamless and powerful Mirror of Souls is. And really, I feel a bit ashamed because I know that I’m not nearly doing this album justice. But no matter what your beliefs may be, if you’re a fan of any kind of power metal, then you need to find some way to get a hold of this and listen to what is easily my favorite PM album of 2008. I simply can’t recommend this masterpiece enough." - Metal Reviews

Ninth album from this Swedish band.  Katatonia's music shares a kindred spirit with that of Opeth and Tool.  Very much emotion driven with a dark vibe through out.  It doesn't come more melancholy than this one... "Despite being into their third decade, gloomy Swedish progressive metallers Katatonia are still producing fine work. 2009’s Night Is the New Day was heralded as the band’s finest ever album, and with prog’s increasing influence evident across the more facile end of the metal spectrum, this band is doing better than ever. Dead End Kings marks another progression for this outfit – in terms of album structure, anyway. While their previous effort was a sumptuous effort with a sum greater than its parts, this ninth album is a collection of fantastic, searching songs that stand alone as well as they do together. It’s still completely and utterly miserable, though… so very, very miserable. The cellos in opening track The Parting add solemn layers to music that is already laden with sorrow and introspection. It’s a multifarious affair from then on in. The slightly sinister Hypnone adds strength before the album succumbs to the mellow, emotive The Racing Heart. Buildings is the most resolutely metal track here. Its humungous riffs are positioned at exactly the moment where the listener may have been lulled into a false sense of security, bludgeoning guitars swelling the song’s belly with a fiercely charged beauty. There are other moments of grandiose, majestic beauty breaking up the murkiness, but Buildings is the only piece of metal you’re going to get.Dead Letters is massively reminiscent of Tool – and while the American prog-grungers remain at work on their overdue fifth LP, it’s a very welcome sound. It doesn’t last though. As with everything Katatonia do, the song wanders off into another direction, atmospheric moments splintering into sparse orchestration, Jonas Renkse’s murmured voice flying across the top throughout. <br><br>The closer is certainly the finest standalone song here, bringing Dead End Kings to a glorious and complex end. There’s no grand climax. It just fades to dust, allowing you to reflect upon yet another excellent album from Katatonia." - BBC

Not sure what needs to be said about this album - I get weepy eyed just thinking about the first time I heard it. One of the greatest progressive rock albums of all time - residing in my all time top 10. The best album Pink Floyd never made. Extraordinary, expansive space rock journeys that will transport you to another place and time. This long awaited remaster comes with two non-lp bonus cuts: "Child Migration" and "Let The Sun Rise In My Brain". Essential listening!!!Please note this disc incorporates EMI copy control technology which seems to allow you to do whatever it is you would normally do with a CD but you can't rip it. Bummer.

Virtuoso keyboardist Vivien Lalu has created a new progressive metal epic featuring an all star cast:Band [A-Z]---Martin LeMar (Mekong Delta) - VocalsMike LePond (SymphonyX) - BassSimone Mularoni (DGM) - GuitarsVirgil Donati (PlanetX)- DrumsVivien Lalu (Shadrane) - KeyboardsGuests [A-Z]---Jens Johansson (Stratovarius)Joop Wolters (Shadrane)Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater)Marco Sfogli (James LaBrie)Mike Andersson (Cloudscape, Fullforce)Peter Wildoer (Darkane, James LaBrie)Born of Noelle and Michel Lalu, musicians from the ‘70s French progressive act Polene, Vivien Lalu has released a surplus of recordings through an array of different bands and projects since 1997, as the keyboard player for underground black/doom band Time For A Change. At the turn of the millennium Lalu played keys for two underground progressive metal bands from Paris, Sad Warden and then Mind’s Orchard, and in 2002 was hired by Hubi Meisel (ex-Dreamscape vocalist) to compose and record the keys for his solo album EmOcean, the following year doing the same for Meisel’s sophomore album Kailash, both of which were released by Lion Music.It was at this time Vivien Lalu begins recruiting his own associates from major prog and metal bands — some of which he shares time composing music alongside in progressive metal act Shadrane — and forms his own solo project, LALU. The first full-length Oniric Metal was released on Lion Music in 2005 and began an entirely new chapter for this composer and his insatiable need to create mind-expanding, cinematic music.These accomplishments helped Lalu to begin securing score and soundtrack work for film and television; over the last few years he’s written many cues for the orchestral soundtrack for the Warner Bros movie Seuls Two, for the show Science X made in association with Lucasfilm Ltd. Additionally he joined the production team behind Laszlo Jones in order to assist the recordings and production of Banana Nation (Universal Music Group). He’s composed many soundtracks for French television, music and sound effects for Neko Entertainment, worked as a sound designer for Ubisoft Entertainment and much more.After collaborating with Shadow Gallery for a song on their Digital Ghosts album, and working with Canadian drummer Chris Nalbandian for his Paralysis of Analysis solo album — recording all keys and sharing solos with Derek Sherinian and Alex Argento — Vivien finally settled in and began work on the second LALU opus. Handling all composition and songwriting duties, as well as all keyboards on the massive production, Vivien weaved the cloth of the new album with vocalist Martin LeMar (Mekong Delta), bassist Mike LePond (SymphonyX), guitarist Simone Mularoni (DGM), drummer Virgil Donati (PlanetX), the album’s parts recorded in several countries including the United States (Los Angeles and New York), Germany and Italy, produced by Lalu in his own studio, and mixed at Boumbox Studio in Paris by Yan Memmi (Dio’s Lock Up The Wolves, Marcus Miller’s The Sun Don’t Lie, etc.). Additional contributions from Jens Johansson (Stratovarius), Joop Wolters (Shadrane), Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), Marco Sfogli (James LaBrie), Mike Andersson (Cloudscape) and Peter Wildoer (James LaBrie) were also carefully built into the album, the final product boasting over fifty minutes of exceptional, massive  cinematic, atmospheric metal Lalu has dubbed, Atomic Ark. 

When seven Greek charlatans get together, the musical visions that springs from their minds, can only be described as a true freakshow.Back in late 2004 the idea of a band that could develop a theatrical attitude and combine different musical elements with the dynamics of metal and rock sound, brought DAKRYA to life ....Following the usual demos and local live shows, the band released its debut album "Monumento" in the spring of 2008. Receiving great reviews and good support from both the media and the fans in and around Greece, DAKRYA started touring on a broader scale, supporting such bands as MOONSPELL.In 2009 the band began to work on new material; the main goal was to put even more emphasis on the 'theatrical' style of DAKRYA, and in January 2010 the band entered the studio with engineer George Bokos (Rotting Christ) to record their sophomore album, "Crime Scene".Come March 2010 the band find themselves sitting in a studio in Sweden mixing the album together with Pelle Saether (Diablo Swing Orchestra, Draconian, Madder Morten), followed by a trip to other Swedish sound-guru Göran Finnberg (Opeth, Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, Arch Enemy) for the mastering of the disc.CRIME SCENE is actually a metaphor about the world we live in. So simple and so complicated at the same time. A person has to change so many faces in order to obtain a “socialized” and “normal” image, that if you think about it a little bit… we all look psychotic. In CRIME SCENE we improvise against reality! Snapshots taken from our everyday lives.From the opener "The Charlatans", over the obvious hit of "The Urban Tribe" to the final notes of the closing soundscape "A Dreadful Sidescene", the album is a one-of-a-kind musical experience. Ranging from the psychotic and cinematic melodrama heard in bands like Diablo Swing Orchestra and Unexpect to the orchestrated gothic metal comparable to Therion and Theatre Of Tragedy, DAKRYA paints their mark all over the canvas.