After 'Visions of Atlantis', it is still symphonic metal with 'Dream Ocean' which is a new Turkish band based in Germany since 2017 and created in 2009 by mezzo-soprano 'Basak Ylva' and guitarist 'Oz Khan'. They have just released their first studio album 'Lost Love Symphony' and for the occasion, they called on artists of the metal scene as among others the guitarist 'Mark Jansen' of ‘Epica'. After the instrumental introduction 'Inception' and its grandiose and epic orchestration, 'Beyond The Greed' is a rather classic, powerful title that attract from the first listen and looks to bands like 'Within Temptation' or 'Epica'. Follows 'Hain' in the same vein and the following title 'Everstorm' is very melodic in a less metal style but still symphonic. They also know how to vary the moods with quieter titles like the beautiful 'Divine Light', 'The Last Dance' or 'Song to the Aurora' where 'Basak Ylva' shows all her talent as a lyrical singer. But the title track of the album is 'Island of Dream' of almost 10 minutes which is the symphonic and epic par excellence with its different parts. For me, the small regret is that they do not bring influence of their homeland and this little extra could certainly make the compositions more original. In short, 'Dream Ocean', even if they add to the (already) long list of symphonic metal bands with a female singer, is certainly a group to follow in the future because they are not very numerous to release a first album of this quality... | |
