MANIFESTO FOR FUTURISM

I consider DALI'S DILEMMA as one of the shining stars of Prog-Metal back in 1999. These Americans have crafted some truly brilliant progressive music: complex, abstract, surrealistic but also astonishingly quite catchy and reasonably easy to digest. All the musicians involved seem to be at the top of their game.all are definitely -for lack of better terminology- 'more than qualified' as Prog(Metal) musicians. These guys are not shy to let rip with their instruments, whether it be lightning sweep lead guitars licks, tasty bass chops (the bass is a bit underplayed, but some of the bass lines are quite tasty indeed), busy drum-fills or the keyboards weaving in and out amidst everything else. As with most Prog-Metal bands, DALI'S DILEMMA also frequently executes complicated sweeps, arpeggio and tricky syncopated movements. These bursts of complex instrumentation seem to flow logically though.whereas a lot of Prog-Metal bands try to force play these kinds of things. It's apparent that the band put a lot of attention and care when composing their songs.the results are an intricate marriage of technicality and great songwriting. Sure, it's very common for '90s Prog-Metal to mimic some of their more celebrated peers.DREAM THEATER in DALI'S DILEMMA's case. At a glance though, only keys-man, Matt Guillory, is at fault in carrying over the DT sound on board DALI'S DILEMMA's boat. When Matt Guillory's keyboards are at the forefront, you can certainly hear a heavy dose of DT's sound and style. It's a good thing that guitarist Patrick Reyes utilizes a slightly different approach. Reyes still exploits the sound and staccato riffing style 'patented' by John Petrucci, but his solos remind me more of Steve Vai, Malmsteen or even James Murphy. The fact that James Murphy is handling production duties for bass, guitar and keyboards might be the deciding factor for the distinctive guitar tone though. What's most impressive about DALI'S DILEMMA are their masterful playing and performance.even though this is only their debut, everything's flawless and the whole band perform like a well-oiled engine. Front man, Matthew Bradley has a very unique singing approach. He doesn't wail and sing in stratospheric regions like most Prog-Metal singers. Bradley's voice is pop rockish, his delivery is a bit like Steve Hogarth (MARILLION). Bradley seems to be trying to sing in a slightly coarse voice, but his softer style still surfaces from time to time. His range isn't spectacular, but he can certainly deliver the goods. Bradley also doesn't like to use vibrato in his vocal delivery, once again he's unlike most Prog-Metal singers. The vocals take some getting used to, but once you're accustomed to it, Bradley's voice is very comforting.and definitely a plus for DALI'S DILEMMA's overall presentation. "Manifesto For Futurism" is a Prog-Metal album chock-full of goodies, highly technical and top notch in every way. Tracks like "Miracles In Yesteryear", "Ashen Days" and "Can't You See" will be ringing in your ears and imprinted inside your brain for days.long after the CD stopped spinning in your stereo. Just like the cover artwork, DALI'S DILEMMA's music is very surreal, at times abstract.puzzling for novices but a work of genius for the more initiated. My highest recommendations! * DD - Paradigma Records/Star 105.5 FM (Surabaya, Indonesia) *