The German prog/metal band Dante was founded in 2006 and the new release When We Were Beautiful is their fourth album. The four members Alexander Gohs (vocals), Markus Maichel (keys), Christian Eichlinger (drums) and Julian Kellner (guitar) try to incorporate elements of prog rock's past with modern musical elements of prog metal's present. One of their obvious influences is Dream Theater. However, I would like to point out that the singer is without any doubt the weak point of the album, as Gősh's voice sounds rather “horrible” to me. Also his pronunciation of English is rather mediocre and sometimes I do not understand what he is singing about! Furthermore I would like to add that this album is maybe a bit too ambitious; take e.g. the song Ambitious. Listen to it very carefully and you will catch my drift (or not). Most of the 7 songs are too chaotic and fail as a good musical composition, meaning, there is no clear distinct musical structure. Sad Today is without any doubt the weakest song of the album filled with just weird vocals and piano. Best track is probably Until The Last Light Breaks In and this is mainly due to the fact that the vocals are done by guest vocalist Bishop. The album ends with the longest song called Finally, which features a lot of musical twists and turns, nice keys and guitar melodies, but rather superfluous spoken word passages. The keyboards domination and the extremely poor vocals spoil this album for me, but for listeners who enjoyed the first Dante albums I can truly recommend When We Were Beautiful. The cover of the album is also rather ambiguous, or should I say sexist? Watch, listen and judge for yourself! **+ Martien Koolen (edited by Astrid de Ronde) Where to buy? |
