Artist: Dream Evil
Label: Century Media
Release: 2010
Duration: 46:35
Rating: 3/5
Swedish power metallers Dream Evil (the name calls to mind Ronnie James Dio’s 1987 album of the same title) are back with their fifth studio album, “In The Night”. And not much has changed. Sure, the days when drummer Snowy Shaw (XXX, ex-Therion, ex-Mercyful Fate, ex-King Diamond) and lead/rhythm guitarist Gus G. (Ozzy Osbourne, Firewind) were part of this quintet are history for Dream Evil, but “In The Night” proves that they’re not losing an ounce of their credibility.
The new album’s tracks bite relentlessly, with snarling, forward-pointing fangs, just as you’d expect given the high quality of the previous four albums, especially the standout “United” (2006). But the years have caught up with Dream Evil too, in the form of occasional fading and self-repetition, self-cloning even. Basically, nothing particularly earth-shattering happens until the chorus of the fourth track, See The Light. That one is a typical power metal march too, like the three before it, but it’s more interesting thanks to a wittier guitar riff leading the chorus. The opener Immortal and Bang Your Head are already pretty much the demanded assault tracks, the kind that will fire up all you diehards who never stray from the basic axioms that define the reach of European power metal today. And that hasn’t changed much in the 14 years since HammerFall’s debut kicked off the revival. The stuff is just less popular right now, but popularity in metal genres runs in cycles anyway. If we can even talk about popularity, that is, rather than being sought-after.
In the verses, the title track leans on the legacy of eighties North American speed metal, which is definitely a welcome bit of variety in the first half of the album. Nicklas Isfeldt keeps his vocals unblemished. Highly melodic, explosive, with all the authority required. In the same breath, he brings a highly melodic catchiness to the point of Dream Evil’s songs and fans the striking embers created by the instrumental side of the band, in a tight interplay of rhythm and rock-solid, classically built riffing.
The vocals lean in tone and approach on Ralf Scheppers (In The Fires Of The Sun, the chorus of Electric) and Rob Halford (in his prime), the riffs themselves sometimes slip over to Primal Fear (See The Light), and otherwise, in the occasionally convincingly sculpted lead melodies and sheer pomp, they can even pull off the kind of bands like Firewind (the chorus of The Unchosen One, with fittingly added string arrangements).
Overall, Dream Evil come across as predictable with “In The Night”, and they can’t surprise anymore, let alone shock. With the new album they satisfy their base of loyal fans, who surely have it at home already. The feeling of cliché is there, but the band once again deftly steers the listener away from the danger of giving in to it, with excellent production that’s aggressive and alive, with pronounced contrasts, the demanded ominous riffing pushed up front, catchily melodic vocals and the detonating rolling of the rhythm section. A formula that’s proven to work. That feeling is also successfully broken up, even in the less interesting parts of the album (On The Wind, Frostbite), by the pompous ballad The Balad, which, thanks to its use of classical piano, draws a few parallels with HammerFall’s Glory To The Brave.
So even though the album doesn’t say anything new, it keeps up a dynamic and variety that is satisfying and sought-after. It’s a proper bone to gnaw on for all of you who swear loyalty to the definition of the noblest form of power metal. In that respect, the new Dream Evil album surely won’t let you down.
Lineup
Nick Night – vocals
Dannee Demon – guitar
Ritchie Rainbow – guitar
Pete Pain – bass guitar
Pat Power – drums
Production
Dream Evil, Henrik Udd & Fredrik Nordstrom
Tracklist
1. Immortal
2. In The Night
3. Bang Your Head
4. See The Light
5. Electric
6. Frostbite
7. On The Wind
8. The Ballad
9. In The Fires Of The Sun
10. Mean Machine
11. Kill, Burn, Be Evil
12. The Unchosen One
