Dreamscape - Revoiced

Year of Release: 2005
Label: Massacre Records
Catalog Number: MAS CD0497
Format: CD
Total Time: 65:08:00

Dreamscape is just about every melodic Prog Metal lover's dream. Every disc they release is met with praise, adoration, and worship. Why should their latest disc, Revoiced be any different? At first, when a band releases a disc about every 3 years on the average, one would question the release of a "greatest hits" package with their current singer re-recording favorite Dreamscape discs from 1997 on. When you have a singer like Roland Stoll, and you have pretty much laid waste 2 times to ProgPower in Atlanta, I think that no matter what, this band stands to gain.

Plowing through all of their past discs, Trance-Like State and Very, Dreamscape re-record these songs so well, it sounds like a completely new disc. Only the die-hard extremists, who absolutely adore the bands' previous work with their previous singers will avoid this one. Otherwise, this is an essential purchase for not only Dreamscape fans, but for Progressive Metal fans in general. The music alone is so powerful and demanding, that it sounds like the band is actually having a grand old time playing the old tunes and doing a fantastic job at it as well. With a renewed vengeance after playing 2 USA ProgPower shows, a new drummer (although this has changed once again), the band completely devastates us with lots of their old tunes from yesteryear, although making it feel like the songs were completely recorded as of yesterday. The songs are divided between Trance-Like State and Very. Most notably, the song "Face Your Fears" from TSL, and a new medley covering many songs in an instrumental piece called "Unvoiced' (clocking in at 8:44) steal the show and make the entire disc worthwhile.

Vocalist Roland Stoll plows through the songs as if he was the original vocalist, and breathes new life into the songs. He doesn't try to emulate the original singers, but rather injects his own vision into the songs, making them believable and almost authentic. Given the high pitch styles of previous singers Tobi Zoltan (Trance-like State) and Hubi Meisel (Very), Roland Stoll makes the songs once again come to life and take on a whole new meaning from his perspective. This all works wonderfully giving the songs a new meaning, and you'd never know that these were recorded previously.

The production, courtesy of keyboardist Jan Vacik once again, is stellar and precise. Emphasis is on the wonderful vocals of Roland Stoll, as it should be, and everything is in place as it always is with a Jan Vacik recording.

Anyone who is a Dreamscape fan needs to own this disc, and anyone who has not heard Dreamscape before should start with this disc as well. In the meantime, another drummer has been added to the lineup in Michael Schwager. He is not the drummer that appears on this disc, but is currently the drummer listed on the bands' website. This is absolutely an essential disc for all Dreamscape fans, and fans that want to check out the band. You cannot go wrong with this band, no matter what. Everything they touch turns to gold, including this disc.

Tracklisting:
Thorn In My Mind / Fateful Silence / Alone / She's Flying / Changes / Fearing The Daylight / Unvoiced / Reborn / Face Your Fears / Winter Dreams / Lonliness / When Shadows Are Gone

Musicians:
Roland Stoll - vocals
Wolfgang Kerinnis - guitars
Jan Vacik - keyboards
Benno Schmidtler - bass
Klaus Engl - drums

Discography:
Trance-like State (1997)
Very (1998)
End Of Silence (2004)
Revoiced (2005)

Genre: Progressive-Power Metal

Origin DE

Added: June 19th 2006
Reviewer: Larry "LarryD" Daglieri

Artist website: www.dreamscape.de
Hits: 3002
Language: english