END OF SILENCE

When talking about Progressive Metal bands it seems impossible to avoid mentioning the Progressive Metal Gods, Dream Theater. It almost seems heretical to discuss this genre and ignore these giants, sort of like talking about baseball and ignoring the Yankees.

In the case of German Prog Metal prodigies, Dreamscape, I'm not only going to mention Dream Theater, I'm going to compare the two. Taking a name like Dreamscape, one might assume that was their intention, like they were saying to the world, look at us, yeah Dream Theater is good but so are we!

Song/Track List 1] Clockwork (6:14) ****1/2 2] Shorttime News (5:46) **** 3] The End Of Light (20:49) ***** 4] All I Need (3:35) *** 5] Silent Maze (7:33) **** 6] Flow (7:12) / More Than (6:22) ***** 7] More Than (6:22) ***** 8] Infected Ground (7:47) ***** 9] You Don't Know Me (7:02) ****1/2

To save all you readers time and the trouble of digging out your calculator, this album is seventy-two and a half minutes of rip snortin' melodic progressive music, a true bargain. When was the last time you bought an album over forty minutes? Hell, numerous so called albums barely eclipse thirty minutes and probably only have one or two good songs on them, but the proof is in the music so read on.

I will admit one thing, Dreamscape is not exactly prolific. End of Silence is well named for this is their first recording in five years and is only their third overall. Their first recording Trance-like State(which I haven't heard) was released in 1997 and raised many eyebrows. The followup in 1999, simply titled Very, was no sophomore flop and had many progheads clamoring for more but unfortunately Dreamscape did a Rip Van Winkle (some would say Boston) routine and went into hibernation. Well folks, the wait was worth it. Wolfgang Kerrinis and Jan Vacik have holed themselves up in Dreamscape Studios in Germany and created a literal masterpiece, I kid you not.

Dreamscape now has a new singer (surprise - three albums three singers) in Roland Stoll but not a new sound. Oh yes, they've evolved, are more polished and maybe a little tighter but side by side there isn't that much difference between Very and End of Silence style wise. Even though all the songs (except "All I Need") are long to very long, they have inherent melodies that are enhanced by Roland Stoll's powerful vocals. The rhythm section often use complicated time signatures, but they never use it as a primary element, but rather as a way to bring the melodies out even more. The production, co-ordinated by keyboarded Jan Vacik, puts emphasis on the synth work, but leaves enough room for the guitars to break through.

In "Clockwork" and "Shorttime News", we have a couple six minute uptempo, contemporary, progressive metal numbers, featuring strong layered instrumentation including crunchy guitars and heavy synths. Next the centerpiece of the album is the 21-minutes 'piece de resistance', "The End Of Light", which compares favorably with DT's 23 minute masterpiece, "Change of Seasons". Let's see, we have an orchestra, a wall of Engl amplifiers, angelic choruses, some super crunchy guitars and goosebumps. It starts with a three minute orchestral sequence before the band takes us through a kaleidoscope of sounds exhibiting the many different faces of progressive music. This lengthly number is pure aural ecstasy and is the epitome of what great prog metal is all about.

Following a rather boring ballad, "All I Need" is "Silent Maze" sort of a combination of the first two songs and the boring ballad, thankfully it's followed by "Flow", the second best song, a rollicking varied tempo piece, highly melodious and somewhat complex, in excess of seven minutes, starting with a brilliant beginning, a piano accompanying Roland, the remainder features the usual drums/guitar beat, with synths and piano.

Next "More Than" is another five star song. It has a again has a varied tempo, some great guitar playing (both crunchy and wanking), a fetching melody, a great bridge and some downright excellent vocals. "More Than" segues into "Infected Ground", yet another five star number, which has a slow ominous moody beginning, before picking up the pace to medium fast. If there is one song that reminds one of DT more than others, this is probably it. Last but not least is another variable paced tune "You Don't Know Me", It has strong pianos (actually more than guitars), a nice melody and some more great singing.

And that's it folks, one of the best straight Progressive Metal releases of the new millennium (at least so far) CONCLUSION

This album would probably appeal to true progheads more than pop/rock/alternative/metal aficionados but for anyone that is looking for something a little more complex than your average tinny sounding Garage Band, Dreamscape may be your your vehicle to true enlightenment.

As I mentioned Dreamscape sound eerily like Dream Theater. Other similar bands would include Vanden Plas, DGM, Symphony X, Adagio, Threshold, Superior, Redemption, Frameshift and Mastermind.

Looking back on all these great Progressive Metal bands, I can't help but wonder, that if there never was any Dream Theater, would Dreamscape then be the Prog Metal standard to which all these other bands are compared?

The first thing that came to my mind listening to this CD was "Oh no not another DT clone band!".Actually there are already enough of this kind on the market.Who needs one more? Me not for sure. We have in Germany the very good band Vanden Plas with an excellent singer who's sounding at least a bit different from DT. But a band who has even a similar name and a singer with a very similar voice??? I would not say that they are playing badly, not at all, they are even quite good. Off course the guitar player does not have completely the technical skills of a John Petrucci and it is quite difficult to come close to musicians like Portnoy, Rudess or Sherinian. But anyway I find it a bit ridiculous and maybe it's just a kind of envy. DT and its musicians became famous for a good reason, because they are extremely good and they deserve to be admired. And I doubt that DREAMSCAPE could have played the same role as them. I will not go into detail of the music on "End of Silence" since my co-reviewer did already describe it quite well. It's a very nice Melodic Progressive Metal album, it contains lots of music, that's true (but quantity is not important anyway). But it's as well nothing special, not inventive at all and after a while just boring, because one thinks: "I've heard something like this before, just played in a better way". So for sure I can't call this album an essential and must-have one. I think everyone can live quite well without ever having listened to it. Actually I would recommend it only to people who want to collect every band that plays similar music like DT.

(edited 5/5/2008)

The record opens with the fast paced "Clockwork", lots of synths and guitar throughout. "Short-Time News" features a good riff on and off throughout, although I prefer the guitar melody with synths a lot more. "The End Of Light" has it all, including orchestral movements and after 6 minutes the guitar is great, even uplifting as the melody soars. "All I Need" is a beautiful song as is "Flow", both mellow and I prefer his vocals on these types of songs. "Silent Maze" is a darker tune with bass answering the drums until the guitars fire up. "More Than" and "Infected Ground" both have some good riffs, but again I prefer the mellow passages.The final song "You Don't Know Me" is a good mid-paced tune with good vocals.

It's hard for me to get excited about this one, but I could see why some are.

Dreamscape is a german prog metal band who has 4 albums 'till now. This albumis the their third one from 2004 and entiitled End of silence. At first listning I was amased by how influenced this band is by Dream Theater. Well in this case is not a bad thing , they sound realy tight and solid through the entire 72 minutes. Great arrangements, great vocals made by Roland Stoll , who has a very good voice and fits perfectly here. All the pieces are extremly well crafted and leaves the listner with no regrets after the album is over. Well many said this is another DT clone, at some poit maybe they are right, but this is better than any DT album after Scenes from a memory. All the pieces has a high level of virtuosity, and as a whole they are not boring at all, here is a 21 minutes epic - The end of light, that shows how great this band is and in the same time how underrated. So all in all a great and very unnoticed album and band, great interplays between guitar and keys, odd time signature, and a well structured pieces. 4 stars for this album, among the best I heard in last couple of years. The next one from 2007 is even better.

Although I groaned initially due to what is by this point progressive metal cliché, I cannot deny that this is a fantastic album in that context, and those who love the genre, particularly Dream Theater, should not pass by this one. Roland Stoll's voice is almost a clone of that of James LaBrie, and quite a bit of this band's style on End of Silence is very similar to the genre's most popular quintet. Expect heavy guitars, powerful vocals, a solid rhythm section, synthesizer leads with apparently one setting, and the occasional soft song. However, with that said, this band does a phenomenal job using dynamic compositions and melodies to their advantage.

"Clockwork" Following a glitzy synthesizer-lead opening (similar to "New Millennium" by Dream Theater), the strained tenor of the vocalist and heavy guitars moves in at a medium pace. The song has everything one would expect from a progressive metal album opener minus speedy theatrics. Instead, the song focuses on the rhythm and the big vocals.

"Short-Time News" Soft piano and cutting lead guitar would lead one to believe a power ballad is in store, but this is not so- pretty soon guttural guitar rips through alongside synthesizer, and the music is right back in heavy metal territory.

"The End of Light" The epic of the album involves a quasi-orchestral beginning, and could easily be the music for the opening credits of a Tim Burton film. After three minutes of robust symphonic music, the band kicks in with methodical metal. The bright melody over piano about six minutes in is quite uplifting, and the subsequent guitar solo is a real highlight. Delicate guitar brings in a gentler, yet still ominous passage, which gives way to more biting guitar, heavy drumming, and a synthesizer solo. This is a big song, one that can really feel as though it is starting to lose focus around seventy-five percent of the way through. Toward the end, it allows the piano to take over the repeated melody, and this is an excellent move.

"All I Need" In keeping with the gentle piano that ended the previous expedition, Dreamscape offers a short, soft song- a well-placed respite from driving metal and lengthy instrumental sections. The song uses simple chords and a straightforward but agreeable melody.

"Silent Maze" Deep bass introduces this one. It is standard progressive metal fare, this time complete with a shredding guitar solo. I enjoy the interaction between the shimmering guitar and the keyboards hovering in the backdrop.

"Flow" Here is a driving progressive metal cut with thick wall of guitar and breathier sections laced with synthesizer lead. The vocals are a bit grating in places, but overall, this is an excellent offering on this album.

"More Than" While the bass carries a basic tone, the backing is riddled with odd effects. Multiple guitars cut through though, and soon a somber vocal creeps in over a gentle background. Once again, the band demonstrates their ability to use dynamics to craft excellent and varied songs- despite powerful heavy metal passages, the band dams these up with some of the calmest music to be found on this affair.

"Infected Ground" Using a simple chord progression and filling out the sound with the staples of the progressive metal genre, Dreamscape offers a very good work, if only challenging in places. For the guitar solos, the band opens up the rhythm (rather than cluttering it with chugging guitars), and this proves most effective.

"You Don't Know Me" For the final song, the band offers even more variety, this time using a cavorting yet off-kilter romp between the keyboards and the guitar. The melody is wonderful.