Factory of Dreams – “Poles” (2008)

Label: ProgRock Records

Review by Jon Estelle

Factory of Dreams features the enchanting voice of vocalist Jessica Lehto and instrumental work of Hugo Flores. This duo from Europe pack a lot into their recently released debut album, “Poles”. Factory of Dreams is a new band under Hugo‘s multi-album story arc named Project Creation, which has released two albums. Hugo has evolved the projects sound to the next level, painting a more calm and surreal atmosphere. For listeners who haven’t heard the previous projects, that is not a problem, as they are not directly connected to this work. Each track on “Poles”  has its own beautiful and distinctive sound. Mixing in progressive, gothic and operatic elements, Jessica and Hugo provide a very captivating harmony. Overall the album is very easy to listen to and gives off an ethereal, fantasy-like atmosphere. The amount of atmosphere packed into each track lifts the listener off to another world and does not drop them back down until the very end. The environment feels darker, but at the same time very peaceful. The instrumental work vividly contrasts with the vocals. This makes each part stand out by itself, but also blend together to form the overall picture nicely. Jessica jumped into the genre with bands such as The Gathering, Within Temptation and Nightwish. Her voice can previously be heard on the Beto Vazquez Infinity and Once There Was collaboration projects. The influences can be heard throughout “Poles” . Fans of the previously mentioned bands and projects will be able to appreciate what Factory of Dreams bring to the genre. Highlights from the album include the melodic “The Sight of a Better Universe” and the more electronic, instrumental heavy piece “Electric Boom”. Exciting elements can be found throughout the other nine tracks as well. A lot went into this album and it is easy to hear that Factory of Dreams tuned each track to near perfection. With Hugo being from Portugal and Jessica being from Sweden, they had to converse online and record their parts separately. They manage to pull off some amazing chemistry despite the long distance. It is amazing how well everything fit together in the end, especially since the band only has two members.   “Poles” comes highly recommended to fans of gothic progressive metal.