When I first received this album I thought Lalu, what kind of name is that for god damn Metal band?! Little did I know that I was in store for a lesson; how prog-Metal should be done.  With dueling solos between keyboards and guitar it is a release I am sure that any fan of the genre will be hooked after one listen.
Lalu is a masterful prog-Metal outfit featuring the French keyboardist Vivien Lalu, a session keyboardist for other bands such as Shadrane, Chris Catena, Mind's Orchard and Hubi Meisel. The rest of the band is  ex-Annihilator bassist Russell Bergquist, guitarist Joop Walters (Arabesque, Shadrane and Elysion), drummer Ryan Van Poederooyen (Devin Townshend) and pipes man Martin LeMar (Broken Glass and Tomorrow's Eve). Oniric Metal, their debut, was released in 2005 by Lion Music out of Finland.
Oniric Metal is quite the album, it is mostly a keyboard driven album which is not surprising because of the fact that it is named after its mastermind, Vivien Lalu. The album has an excellent variety in its song structure as well as the tempo of the songs.  
The track Night In Poenari easily becomes a favorite because it is obviously the heaviest one on this release.  Another feature about the track that I really enjoyed was the intro to the song with opera styled female vocals.  My other favorite track on the album is what I would call the opus of the album, clocking in at eighteen minutes and eleven seconds, Potboy.  When I first saw the track name I was to say the least confused, not really sure what kind of pot the track title was referring to. I soon found after hearing the little skit that goes on between an alien and his ship's computer about where to find the next bag. The skit makes me laugh hysterically every time I hear it, but it is hardly the highlight of the song.
The whole this is just a plain rocker.  Every aspect of this album totally kicks ass, there are no filler songs and no monotonous, boring songs. Honestly, I cannot remember the last time that I heard such a prog-Metal album.