It is my personal belief that there's a whole lot of unsigned bands out there that definitely deserve a shot at glory but unfortunately - as we all know - the music industry works in mysterious ways (uh huh, yeah, I'm being ironic - to a point). Of course as we all also definitely know (for sure), there's a whole lot of unsigned bands out there who're unsigned and will remain unsigned because they're simply not good enough to enter the pit (or you could say that they just suck...). Dreamtone, the Prog/Power Metal act from Turkey, is a band I'm revisiting with quite interest, I must say.
In 2004 Dreamtone pretty much amazed me with their previous Demo, Unforseen Reflections, and to quote myself I am pretty impressed by the instrumentation done by these guys, I mean, they almost sound as if they're this great, world-known, Power Metal band which just recorded an album together with an entire orchestra. Now, in 2005, with an even more enhanced lineup (they brought in a second guitar player, Burak Kahraman, leaving Oganalp Canatan stick to just singing) and the addition of three guest musicians - one of them being the multitalented Gary Wehrkamp of Shadow Gallery in a narrating role - Sojourn is here, patiently awaiting for my examination.
First fact I should point out is that Dreamtone have made distinct progress, music wise. Oganalp's vocals have really improved and the band sounds more tight, thus their compositions sound more hard worked. We're dealing with a concept album here (with a really dreamy cover artwork - yeah, I like it) which is quite rare for your ordinary Demo release, to my eyes at least it is. The story's about an angel who's been deceived into selling his soul to the Devil, in return of an agreement to see his family again. Pretty interesting though a bit over-exploited I think, the angel/devil theme. On to the music...
Sojourn (recorded once more at New Midas Studio) includes 17 tracks of which 11 are full songs and 6 are narrations of musician extraordinaire Garry Wehrkamp who is The Narrator of this nice (yet as I said, not that unusual) little tale. Most of the album is indeed a clearly Prog/Power Metal album with rhythm changes, pleasant melodic fluctuations and interesting musical ideas here and there. Ideas that could of course sound a lot better in a really good studio, with maybe a different producer. Because the production has always probably been the band's major drawback but you've got to keep in mind that we're talking about a Demo release which means that these guys are ordinary dudes, with ordinary pockets, sticking their hands in there (I mean in their pockets...) trying to come up with a decent amount of money to try and record their dreams, their ambitions. And when I say drawback I don't mean the typical lousy sound many Demos have (which make you wanna slam yourself into a thick brick wall repeatedly until you become your own first self-imprinted splatter poster) but I mean you've got a really good package (from the artwork to the very tunes) with... the drums for example sounding quite bleh (bleh: in lack of a better word). And overall I wish the songs sounded a bit louder, a bit more explosive (or according to Ali G, massive).
There's influences in Dreamtone's music ranging from Blind Guardian's atmosphere/feeling to Dream Theater (example: Behind The Face), Shadow Gallery and Iron Maiden (example: This Is A Goodbye). But unlike other bands, Dreamtone manage to retain a certain uniqueness due to Oganalp's distinguishing voice. Surely he needs to keep on working on his vocals but as I mentioned before, he's done a lot of progress (as has the entire band) and I'd bet my left testicle that he'll one day be among the cream of musicians in the Prog/Power Metal arena.
Sojourn is a role model in the chaotic land of unsigned Demo releases. Record labels should really get in touch with the band and check them out. You know, I honestly don't think Shadow Gallery's Gary Wehrkamp would be helping them out if he didn't feel there's a bright future lying ahead of them. It's not like they were already famous and had tons of money to buy Garry's participation on Sojourn. He obviously saw what I saw in them from my review of their previous Demo; talent, will and ambition - three most basic elements to get anywhere nowadays. Until next time...take a Sojourney through Dreamtone's dreams...
- Album Highlights: Come To Me (beautiful ballad), Behind The Face, Escape, Nightmare and Epilogue. The cool artwork done by Kerem Beyit