ETERNITY'S OCEAN

Terrific, simply astonishing album. I have to admit that I'm greatly impressed by this music, even though when I dig down into these songs and analyze them deeply, ingredients forming it, elements of which it's made are common in Prog music. Yet, it's big.

Reminding a little bit The Tangent (especially vocals), Guy Manning's work (song composition) + synths & flute, or saxophone. It sounds vague, but it's like with blurbs. They sometimes sounds silly, but they can surprise pleasantly.

Guitars, I think that important part of Dice's sound is guitar department, but the most important thing here is not indepth examination of count of each particles here, but as I said, it's rather about feeling you get from this music as whole.

5(-), there is "something" in this music.

I haven't heard about this band for years! They were founded somewhere in mid 70-s in former German Democratic Republic, and were not too much known even in that time's Eastern Europe , where common figure of existed rock bands was smaller than in one middle-size English town.

Later I found the information in one Polish rock site,that they re-founded band and successfully play and even regularly record albums. It wasn't easy to find more information on them, but I realised that they are still based in Leipzig and are mostly popular around former Eastern Germany and some Western Polish territories. Let say -good local band.

So it was really interesting to hear their new album - after few decades! No big surprises though - I found almost what I expected to find: melodic straight forward rock, but with nice, almost symphonic arrangements,and compositions are really long (almost all -longer than 10 minutes), what shows band orientation to prog listeners.

Music itself is quite simple, but soulful, plenty of sax and flute are added and it makes the music even more nice. Vocals are competent, if a bit old fashioned. Main problem in musicianship field is for sure the drummer - his level is strongly below average there, and too often his drumming reminds cheap drum machine's sound.

For sure, this band isn't one of higher league (even not from the first one), but their melodic symphonic rock (more rock than prog),with some Scorpions-like guitars and a bit naive and old fashioned compositions has it's own beauty. Just if you don't judge them at the high standard requirements.

No way album for real prog fan, but for those with love to melodic not too complex pop-rock with symphonic arrangements, long compositions and dreamy,romantic atmosphere, this album could be nice listening ,I believe.

My rating (with a some advance for their naive beauty) is 3.

I have listened to this even more than most of the DICE albums I have devoured in the last 3 or so years, perhaps because it is becoming harder than ever to characterize their sound, even as it occupies the same bathymetric range as their umpteen previous releases, and moves at about the same warp speed. The DICE stock in trade remains elaborate, if not intricate, melodic progressive rock with a song orientation but lengthy track lengths that allow for extensive soloing and ensemble work.

Chronologically, "Eternity's Ocean" slots in right after the "Without/Within Trilogy", and picks up where the final installment left us, extending the freedoms of Jens Lübeck's sax and flute, while offering ever more intense lead guitar options for Peter Viertel. As a result, it seems as though the inmates are running the asylum, which, while musically not always a bad idea, results in the busiest and perhaps least focused DICE album in some time. Here it seems like many of the cuts are simply way too long, particularly the aptly named closer "Falling Apart", which clings pit-bull style to a decidedly pedestrian beat, reminiscent of 80s BOWIE for most of its 10 minutes, and throws in dreadful radio "noise" to boot. Luckily little else here plumbs those depths, although "Secret Harmony" is a bizarre misstep that proves that even shorter material is not safe from the quality control police. From its frantically paced opening there is simply nowhere to go but down, and boy does it.

The rest of the tracks are good or better. I have to specifically call out "The Last Hour" which is blessed by divine flute work that sets off the more restrained but still skilled lead guitar before the sensuous sax has its turn. The pace is more deliberate and unhurried. Nove handles the keyboards, and here his supportive organ work is especially praiseworthy. "Venus and Mars" resides closest to other DICE album openers we have come to love and, while "Following the Wind" seems the heir apparent to its predecessor's "Hold the Spirit" combined with a tickling nostalgia. it also suffers most from Viertel's least subtle work as it draws close to a close. Hopefully in subsequent releases he will be more reined in and the balance between guitars, wind, and keys will be struck.

This release shows a group perhaps unsure of their next move, and, while they are by no means salting away their future, I can't help feel this won't be the DICE album to live on in eternity.