Independent Release
Review by Tony Cannella
Fans who have a love for melodic, up-tempo, symphonic epic metal ala classic Helloween, Dark Moor and Rhapsody of Fire and can’t get enough of the genre, the Spanish band Eternal Dream are one to check out for sure. This band first came on our radar with their 2009 7-song EP “The Seed of Naryll”. Right away they established what the band represents both musically and lyrically. Eternal Dream returns with their debut full-length “The Fall of Salanthine” and compared to the aforementioned EP, Eternal Dream has definitely hit another gear and has come into their own. First off, five of the seven songs that appeared on the EP are also on “The Fall of Salanthine”. They have been re-recorded and benefit greatly from the superior production. Eternal Dream are firing on all cylinders and vocalist Ana Moronta is singing so good and has a strong vocal range. Maybe from a variety stand point; this is not the most varied release you will ever hear. You pretty much know what you are going to get from Eternal Dream, which is up-tempo metal with a huge, extravagant presentation and songs that are fantasy based. They do what they do and do it very well. The intro “March of the Immortals” has an epic fantasy movie soundtrack vibe to it as it segues into the intense opener “God of War”. This is a great way to start things as the track is just a fast paced, up-tempo masterpiece. Songs like the powerful “Last Battle of a Hero”, “Symphony of Horizon” and “Elysion Era” keeps things pretty much on a steady course. The ballad “Farewell” slows the pace down a bit and allows the listener to catch their breath. Ana performs a duet with Alexis Serrano of the band Anamnesis on “Farewell” and it proves to be one of the highlights. The violin and piano dominated “The Rising” is just a short interlude between songs as “Frozen Salanthine” picks up the tempo once again. This song is just flat out intense, with an awesome guitar solo and a galloping rhythm that just won’t quit. “The Fall of Salanthine” is concluded by the epic trilogy “Memories of a Lyliac at Dawn”, thus ending this beautiful album with an exclamation point. While bands who play this epic symphonic power metal tend to sound the same at times, Eternal Dream definitely has the ability to stand out thanks to the material on “The Fall of Salanthine”. Sometimes when a band releases concept albums they paint themselves into a corner and tend to get pigeonholed as a conceptual band. I hope that doesn’t happen with Eternal Dream. Their songs are good enough to stand on their own and that is all that matters in the grand scheme of things.
Rating – 95/100
Tracklist
- March of the Immortals
- God of War
- Last Battle of a Hero
- Symphony of Horizon
- Elysian Era
- Farewell
- The Rising
- Frozen Salanthine
- Sweet Wrath
- The Beast and the Rose
- Waters of Reality
- Memories of a Lyliac Dawn Act I – Genesis
- Memories of a Lyliac Dawn Act II – Beauty of Eterna
- Memories of a Lyliac Dawn Act III – Epica and the Bliss
Line Up
- Ana Moronta – Vocals
- Niko Hartmann – Guitars
- Alvaro Sabin – Guitars
- Cesar Rodriguez – Keyboards
- Antonio Motta – Bass
- Andy Montalbetti – Drums
Links
MySpace * ReverbNation * BandCamp * Facebook * Twitter * Site