Like waking up into the haziness of a grey sort of dream, not necessary nightmarish in concept but still vague, attempting to reach an understanding with one's self regarding life as it is, what is wrong, right, good, evil and what the future holds. Sounds deep but that is what a glorified complicated Metal creation might do to you, at least that is what it means to me. As a rather picky Progressive Metal sympathizer, when it comes to this Metal subgenre I tend not to sink in my feet into rough or thick waters, yet in this particular case I just let myself go in, like taking ill advised bids in the casino. Gladly, my gamble worked and I chose right. Feeling lucky about it, here I am writing about the French Metal band, VENTURIA that recently released their third album, "Dawn Of A  New Era" via Lion Music. Though I haven't listened to any of their earlier works, I must say that I was quite impressed by this groups assorted music that revealed a certain amount of appreciation to various kinds of Metal like traditional stuff as a somewhat contemporary versions of Heavy, Power, Gothic and Symphonic Metal in the vein of ANUBIS GATE, DREAM THEATER, FATES WARNING, late 90s PARADISE LOST and NIGHTWISH but also a few reminders and additions of Alternative and common modern Metal following the catchy paths of LACUNA COIL and EVANESCENCE.

After listening to "Dawn Of A New Era" for a number of times I have to admit that the more influences this group shares, the better the party of interesting riffing, high quality vocal performances, fine atmospheric keyboards and smashing rhythm sections, especially the creative drumming. The album's remarkable production, and of course the musical creativity in the lead, made the tunes sound darkened, austere in a certain enjoyable form, but nonetheless everything made me feel that all is clear and right in front of me to learn, take in and understand, well maybe not everything but most of it. It seemed that VENTURIA, as every band that wishes for its tunes to eventually tick the listener, made some effort to create harmonic, dreamy and pensive choruses. The somewhat mixed passionate voice pattern of the lead vocalist, Lydie Lazulli (Something between Liv Kristin and Cristina Scabbia) along with the aid of the band's guitarist at the back up, Charly Sahona, really kicked hard on those special peak moments. I admit that there were several examples that resembled me stuff out of the Pop Rock world, but when the heavy hitting and creative riffing come back to play, it all fades back into the rightful Metal land. Nevertheless, I deem this as a tremendous effort to keep it Metal while not fearing to explore different worlds of music. Is that the true essence of Progressive Metal or what? I think that it is so why not indulge on it at least a little.

In their quest for becoming heavily artistic and developing themselves, I found most of their current creations as more than soothing, complex but still flowing and gripping. "Spiritual Path" sunk deep in me with its double bass led chorus that went well with the rather simplistic open chord guitaring and hovering angelic vocals. "What If I" shares one of the finest vocal harmonies I have heard in a while along with tremendous riffing and explosive keyboards. "What We're Here For" seemed a bit pitch-black but it maintained a fine line of riffages, great bridge passages and wonderful drumming. I can also add up "Phoenix", the fine epic finale of "A Land of Dreams", which turned out to be like a sort of a summary to all of what this album showcases through its run, impressive work that begins and ends with a majestic grand rhythm. In short, there is no need for me to keep on describing my admiration for this amazing effort, go ahead and buy it, and do it quickly.