Out of the beautiful metal land of France comes symphonic metallers DREAMSLAVE making their grand full length debut with "Rest In Phantasy", an album that is epic, symphonic, melodic, metal, and most importantly: djenty.

DREAMSLAVE has created a fairly typical symphonic metal sound with soaring operatic cleans from Elegy Emma, epic choirs, and melodies to fit the choral sound, and an overall grand symphonic sound with a very theatrical presentation. That all sounds fairly straightforward, and more or less sounds like NIGHTWISH and EPICA had a child together. The synths and guitars remind me of NIGHTWISH, and the vocals and melodies remind me of EPICA.

But on top of this classic established sound, what really makes DREAMSLAVE stand out is their dedicated use of djent throughout the entirety of the album. Djent is not often found in symphonic metal that sounds like this. Usually when bands try a more djenty approach, the musical as a whole shifts into a more modern feel and takes a new vibe entirely. But this stays absolutely strictly true to its mid 2000s decade symphonic metal heyday sound, just with djent laid in throughout. It even has breakdowns, you just don't hear that from bands that sound like this. Sure NIGHTWISH and EPICA (and bands like them) have their djenty moments, but never like this, and never this much as a foundational aspect to the sound. It's particularly dominant as the rhythm section in verses. It's a strength of the album, and really helps DREAMSLAVE stand out. Along with their very much EPICA inspired approach to writing melodies, we end up with a ton of extremely catch, groovy, and chunky slower moments that are catchy as hell. Djent + operatic cleans + choir + epic melodies = great success.

But while it does maintain a lot of thematic consistencies with the way the melodies and vocals are approached, the album also has a lot of ebb and flow and spans a fair amount of styles and sounds. In the back half of the album you get tracks that experiment a ton like "Wishes Of Revenge" which has a middle eastern influence and is driven by the keys, "Angel Requiem" which is more theatrical and anthemic (and even has male cleans which was interesting), and "Pirates Anthem" which is cinematic and Viking esque, and almost sounds more like something XANDRIA would write. But then you also have songs like "The Vinland Saga", "Torments", and "The Dark Crusade" which drive the EPICA melody style hard with tons of cool choir usage. Some of their most epic and emotional melodic work can be found here. And of course, just about every track finds a way to incorporate healthy amounts of djent (but much less so in some of the more balladic ones like "End Of Innonce" and "Angel Requiem"). There are even breakdowns on the album, which you just really don't hear much in this genre. My two favorite breakdowns were on "Torments" and "Doomsday". "Doomsday" very much fits the name and was one of their heaviest, darkest, chunkiest tracks. "Torments" had some of the most technically proficient guitar work and showcased their ability to seamlessly switch between blistering fast speed/symphonic guitar, and slower, groovier chunk.

My favorite songs were probably "The Dark Crusade" as it best personified the slower, groovier, chunkier feel coupled with the EPICA sounding melodies and female vocals which sound really fantastic together, and "Eternitears" the closer. "Eternitears" was one of the most unique songs on the album and was a really cool way to finish. Much more slowed down, dramatic, anthemic, and incorporated some of the coolest melodic + choral + orchestral work (particularly cello). It was a fantastic way to finish. The album has a lot of really healthy ebb and flow, paces itself well, and the spreads the songs out perfectly to incorporate their different styles at different times without ever growing too stale.

Overall, this is a fantastic debut from the symphonic metallers out of France. They've managed to take a well loved and well known style and elevate it to a place it hasn't quite gone before. They succeed on a lot of levels. I think if they can fix some issues with the production and vocals to achieve a more polished and commercial sound, they can really succeed in the symphonic metal world. I greatly look forward to what they do next and will continue enjoying "Rest In Phantasy" in the meantime. Fans of symphonic metal, especially those that also like djent, will enjoy this album.