DREYELANDS

By the way, that night they were invited by Age of Nemesis to play before the most famous Hungarian prog metal band at their year-closing concert. Not to forget, they have enough individuality to be an original band and not an average prog metal-tribute bunch.

This EP is really great. Five excellent musicians (not unusual in the fields of prog) have come together, I especially enjoy the rhythm section: Omar Gassama, the drummer and Gergely Springer, the bassist.

1. Can't Hide Away: The best song! Starts with a distorted guitar playing the riff, then other instruments join in, and for some seconds you could be scared since it sounds like extreme metal. But after they play the first tonality change (0:15) you can settle: it's prog. This opening section is followed by a synth (Zoltán Kas) and a guitar solo (András Ádám Horváth), and then comes the first verse. The interlude between the verse and the chorus is genial. The first refrain is only hlaf-done, and the final note is a half note below what it will be later. A virtuoso bass leads the song to the calm middle part which has an additional funky guitar. The way it gets into the basic tempo is awesome: tension-enlarging vocal lines with an excellent yell on the climax by Nikola Mijic! Every time I hear it, I have the creeps! And finally there's the full chorus,which is fairly catchy. Another six-string solo, and once again the chorus with bigger speed and double bass drum. The cut-off's abrupt and professional.

2. Fearless: The first motives and the synth riff (which is often repeated throughtou the song) have arabic musical influences. Some strange disformed spoken parts can be heard in the background. The band is full with great melodies, like the one during the line and the bridges burn and the refrain accompanied by the piano. At 3:20 there is the most important Dream Theater-trademark: a guitar solo started by notes that remind the listener of Stream of Consciousness and played in the vein of Petrucci.

3. One Fall: The longest track with the intro that could easily be part of One Hour by the Concrete Lake, the second Pain of Salvation-album; responsible for this are the melody and the first sound of the keys. The other parts bring change into this tribute, a verse-chorus form is played twice in a row. More parts of the song, especially the pre-chorus is pretty interesting rhytmically. I have to talk about the outro: a bit back to PoS, first played by the full band, than on the very end by a piano and a high-pitched bass.

This could be a prototype of a very good EP, however, there are some week points, like the overrepeated riffs. I'm sure the band will make success if they can find a label and they don't let the time flow out of their hands.

Nikola Mijic sings especially and grandiosely. Her register is very burly. Gergely Springer (bass) and Omar Gassama (drums) play accurately. They give a perfect base. András Ádám Horváth (guitars) and Zoltán Kas (keyboards) are virtuoso musicians. They carry the colour into the music.

1. Can't Hide Away - Breezy song with Dream Theater-feeling, what charms the listener.

2. Fearless - Oriental opening, affluent range of emotions. My favourite Dreyelands song.

3. One Fall - Sweeping melody with a fascinating chorus.

It's not a masterpiece, but an amusing record.