- Apr 5, 2003
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Dragonland - Astronomy
Century Media Records - CD 77579-2 - November 13th, 2006
By Brandon Strader
Dragonland's latest, Astronomy, may be the best power metal album of the year. It combines everything you could possibly want into a stunningly executed piece of art that will hopefully become inspiration for other power/prog bands to take it up a notch, though it is very unlikely that this album will be outdone any time soon. It is the little creative choices that make Astronomy so great, like the use of a hardcore breakdown as the verse rhythm in "Supernova", and the incredibly brutal growls and screams used on "Antimatter" which is an element rarely used by power bands. Dragonland even go as far as to write an entirely classically influenced song, "Beethoven's Nightmare", which cycles through incredible guitar licks and classical piano performances that really cause this track to stand out the most. Let's start at the beginning: "Supernova" starts up with electronic bleeps and bloops with a distorted radio voice speaking some dialogue, but it quickly whips into an amazingly epic and robust arrangement which is made even more epic by the beautiful orchestral work. The album seems like a big-budget film soundtrack, especially when the hook enters at the 49 second mark, which basically defines epicness: You've got to hear it for yourself to understand.
Every single song on the album is great, and even after several listens, continue to bring joy to the listener... "Cassiopeia" continues the brisk strum of an acoustic guitar and angelic female vocalizations. The heavy guitars break back in and rock a bit, and then drop down a bit for a more rhythmic performance throughout the verse. Something you should notice if you've heard Dragonland before, is that the vocals are a ton better now than they used to be. They used to be somewhat of a distraction because they didn't quite stay in tune and sound consistent throughout, which is not the case with this one. The vocals are precisely performed, and they always sound great and fit the music appropriately. "Contact" has sweet synthesizer use, and the verse shows how effective the percussionist can be on his own. He gallops with his kit during the verse, and the chorus is incredibly catchy as well. It was one of the more traditional choruses with that familiar "happy power metal" sound. The skills of the guitarist and the keyboardist are displayed in the latter half of the song when they blow notes off of their instruments like snowflakes until the music seems like a nice, ice-coated meadow. "Antimatter", the aforementioned track with growls, is definitely a must hear. The soaring clean vocals are mixed with low growls and scratchy screams that would make even the harshest of death metallers flinch.
"The Book Of Shadows part IV: The Scrolls Of Geometria Divinia" is a brilliant orchestra-only piece that really does sound like something from a movie soundtrack as the string sets and flutes build and fade majesticly while the imagery of little dancing centaurs enters your mind. "Beethoven's Nightmare" is yet another reason to pick Astronomy up. Think Vitalij Kuprij mixed with Adagio, and of course the classical pianists of the olden days. If you aren't convinced that this album is mint by the time you hear all that, just check out the last three tracks which is split into three chapters. It is the supreme display of Dragonland's metal skills mixed with the spontaneous structure of orchestral arrangements, and is downright awesome. The album is acion-packed, and everything about it is superb from the artwork to the very high quality production. Astronomy will make love to your ears and leave small metal children in there constantly throwing up the horns, headbanging, and growing their hair to incredible proportions which will result in awkward public outtings with many people staring at the unusually long streams of hair flowing from within your ears. A small price to pay for what may be the best power prog album of the year!
Official Dragonland Website
Official Century Media Records Website
Century Media Records - CD 77579-2 - November 13th, 2006
By Brandon Strader
Dragonland's latest, Astronomy, may be the best power metal album of the year. It combines everything you could possibly want into a stunningly executed piece of art that will hopefully become inspiration for other power/prog bands to take it up a notch, though it is very unlikely that this album will be outdone any time soon. It is the little creative choices that make Astronomy so great, like the use of a hardcore breakdown as the verse rhythm in "Supernova", and the incredibly brutal growls and screams used on "Antimatter" which is an element rarely used by power bands. Dragonland even go as far as to write an entirely classically influenced song, "Beethoven's Nightmare", which cycles through incredible guitar licks and classical piano performances that really cause this track to stand out the most. Let's start at the beginning: "Supernova" starts up with electronic bleeps and bloops with a distorted radio voice speaking some dialogue, but it quickly whips into an amazingly epic and robust arrangement which is made even more epic by the beautiful orchestral work. The album seems like a big-budget film soundtrack, especially when the hook enters at the 49 second mark, which basically defines epicness: You've got to hear it for yourself to understand.
Every single song on the album is great, and even after several listens, continue to bring joy to the listener... "Cassiopeia" continues the brisk strum of an acoustic guitar and angelic female vocalizations. The heavy guitars break back in and rock a bit, and then drop down a bit for a more rhythmic performance throughout the verse. Something you should notice if you've heard Dragonland before, is that the vocals are a ton better now than they used to be. They used to be somewhat of a distraction because they didn't quite stay in tune and sound consistent throughout, which is not the case with this one. The vocals are precisely performed, and they always sound great and fit the music appropriately. "Contact" has sweet synthesizer use, and the verse shows how effective the percussionist can be on his own. He gallops with his kit during the verse, and the chorus is incredibly catchy as well. It was one of the more traditional choruses with that familiar "happy power metal" sound. The skills of the guitarist and the keyboardist are displayed in the latter half of the song when they blow notes off of their instruments like snowflakes until the music seems like a nice, ice-coated meadow. "Antimatter", the aforementioned track with growls, is definitely a must hear. The soaring clean vocals are mixed with low growls and scratchy screams that would make even the harshest of death metallers flinch.
"The Book Of Shadows part IV: The Scrolls Of Geometria Divinia" is a brilliant orchestra-only piece that really does sound like something from a movie soundtrack as the string sets and flutes build and fade majesticly while the imagery of little dancing centaurs enters your mind. "Beethoven's Nightmare" is yet another reason to pick Astronomy up. Think Vitalij Kuprij mixed with Adagio, and of course the classical pianists of the olden days. If you aren't convinced that this album is mint by the time you hear all that, just check out the last three tracks which is split into three chapters. It is the supreme display of Dragonland's metal skills mixed with the spontaneous structure of orchestral arrangements, and is downright awesome. The album is acion-packed, and everything about it is superb from the artwork to the very high quality production. Astronomy will make love to your ears and leave small metal children in there constantly throwing up the horns, headbanging, and growing their hair to incredible proportions which will result in awkward public outtings with many people staring at the unusually long streams of hair flowing from within your ears. A small price to pay for what may be the best power prog album of the year!
Official Dragonland Website
Official Century Media Records Website
