Review of Dream Evil - DragonSlayer

When I first heard that the infamous Fredrik Nordström, producer/engineer extraordinaire and owner of the all-too important Studio Fredman was putting a band together it immediately warranted my attention. With monstrous recording credits relinquished by At the Gates, Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquility, Dimmu Borgir, The Haunted, In Flames, Opeth and Soilwork, just to name a few (this is a case of just a few, his Résumé is cruel) of the heavy weights that Nordström has had the pleasure of producing. You get the impression that he knows his metal and in turn would do nothing less of smacking the world with his very own metal opus, right? I finally get news of the line-up, on guitar, Gus G. (Mystic Prophecy, Firewind) on vocals, Niklas Istfeldt (Hammerfall) on bass Peter Stålfors, (who the fok knows) on drums and a shocking contributor Snowy Shaw (King Diamond, Mercyful Fate) and of course Mr. Fredrik Nordström on guitars and keyboards. Well this speaks volumes doesn't it? So I switch my initial expectations of some punishing death metal to the more obvious choice of power metal. Mind you, I did not lose faith. I thought possibly we were now dealing with a possible technically-sound power metal outfit at the least. I was keeping my mind open because my-god this dude has to know his metal, right? The word comes down of the album title, DragonSlayer. All right we're sitting right in power metal central, still keeping my mind open I quickly record a note-to-self, Testament's Eric Peterson put out a crusher last year brandishing the name Dragonlord there's still hope, right? Well the day comes and I make my way down to one of the small pleasures in life, the P.O. box. I now hold in my hand Dream Evil's, DragonSlayer. I quickly take note of a few of the song titles, Chasing the Dragon, Heavy Metal in the Night, and the tad-more inventive, Heavy Metal Jesus. I haven't even heard this music and it is now confirmed all hope is lost. I get home and toss the foker in. Christ, have the 80's returned with a cruel vengeance? I swear we are sitting in year 2 of the new millennium and this music is so dated it should be on a menu at a Greek restaurant. (Take a moment) Sticking with the strict guideline of multiple listens before I write one word on a band's music I suffered through this album 7 times all the while knowing it would only get worse. The mix of sounds best explained comes by way of Fredrik's very own comparison, a mix of Scorpions and Europe. My own opinion would be ranking it with basically every 80's shit band except with a bit more crunch. The production is mint but the content is disheartening, this garbage came from the same man that has recorded killer foking bands. I am truly in shock, the lyrics are beyond shit and ultimate cheese, somewhere in between gut wrenching and god-awful. The musicianship is mediocre at best and fully predictable. The whole design is beneath all that is millennium. Bottom Line: Never let it be said that Fredrik Nordström is not an incredible producer, his accomplishments are above and beyond impressive but as far as vision and taste for music, I can only state that he is truly living in the past. Dream Evil's DragonSlayer fell so far on the floor of disappointing at this point I can't imagine a release topping it. (Or bottoming it, depending on how you perceive it) As far as whether or not you should buy this album I only have this to offer: if you have already purchased your tickets for the upcoming summer Rock Fest tour featuring Dokken, Ratt, Warrant, Firehouse & L.A. Guns then you need to get your ass out and buy this gem immediately!

Release Details

Dream Evil

DragonSlayer

Comments

Related