Dreams of Death and Dismay

Can I skip the obligatory background and useless information regarding the band? And speculation about their name?

Cool.

This album is a slab of often thrashy, melodic, technical death metal that will own your face. Just the right touch of complexity; not the level of Necrophagist, but definitely complex enough to warrant the technical title. Very tactfully played with the level of technicality. There's some borderline neo-classical riffage going on, lots of blast beats, definitely more of a low thrash type vocal, what I'd define as a "bark" - if that makes sense. Lots of memorable riffs, and then, there's this occasional section of a song here and there that'll come out of no where with a tapping lead that's like progressive power metal, with tonality totally unused in death metal - it's very unique (check out Can't Kill What's Already Dead for a good example of this). Colorful chords and slightly weird "stream of notes"-type riffs that are just a series of notes, which end up being so cool and fit so nicely in the fold. It's what sets this album apart.

Metamorphosis by the Well of Truth is kind of the album in a nutshell. Starts with one of said "stream of notes" riffs, then goes into a thrash riff, a little lead, then a headbanging mid-tempo thrashy riff with a touch of complexity, then boom - blast beat, look-how-Swedish-we-are, a pure Swedish death metal riff, then back into the opening riff and lead. Okay ... there's actually a lot more to the song than that, but you get the idea.

There's not a bad riff on this album, there's not even a mediocre riff on this album. It's just great riff after great riff. Backed up by cool song structure and impeccable drumming, and their unique touch. I'd go so far as to say this is a classic.

I loved Anata's debut album The Infernal Depths of Hatred and thus was interested in hearing their second opus Dreams of Death and Dimsay. Now, when compared to their debut this is a lot more technical, which is a little worrying because the balance between bad-assery and technicality was perfect on their debut. However, they also push their Morbid Angel influence to the forefront, resulting in Dreams of Death and Dismay sounding a lot more pugilistic.

The album is a whirlwind of blast beats, furious riffs, crazed lead guitar work, and its all a bit too much. I loved The Infernal Depths of Hatred because it fused these elements so well with excellent Swedish melody, which makes it a little upsetting that the melody takes more of a back seat this time around.

Still, the riffs are of the quality I've come to expect from Anata. The material however isn't as cool as I would have hoped, and when compared with their debut and follow up I rarely find myself reaching for this one. Standout tracks would include "Faith, Hope, Self-Deception" which has some mighty Morbid Angel style riffing, and some of the melody that made their debut so special. "Drain of Blood" is another cool one track, again utilizing the Morbid Angel influence, making for the most head-bangable track on the album.

The production is a little cleaner than their debut, and the guitar tone isn't as awesome as last time around. Although its still a far cry from some of their more sterile peers. Overall Dreams of Death and Dismay is a solid effort but lacks any of the magic that made The Infernal Depths of Hatred such a must have. I'd recommend checking out either the aforementioned debut or Under A Stone With No Inscription before stopping off for a bout with Dreams of Death and Dismay.

For those who knew of this band before reading this (or other) reviews, it is most likely that you came to know of them due to their 2004 release, Under A Stone With No Inscription. Dreams of Death and Dismay is not that album- this you must know and accept before proceding.

That is not to say there aren't similarities; there definately are. Some of those lovely dual guitar melodies woven throughout the pounding rhythym's, slightly raspy yet multi-talented vocals, competent drumming (though this Petersson is not quite up to par with the Pettersson who replaces him). This album's production is also of high quality, which is a necessity considering the comlpex interplay of all this band's parts.

Where UASWNI was sprawling and immensely complex, this album relies on its guitar riffs to bring it variety, rather than each song's identity, structure, and tempo. Basically, this is not as mature or advanced a release (nor as speedy). I do not mean to belittle this record, or the band, but the simple fact is that this release is entirely overshadowed by its follow-up.

This album, when taken solely by itself with no prior knowledge of what was to come, will definately please; these guys are very skilled with their instruments. Though I said this album is technical death, that doesn't mean the only thing to be heard here is random shredding and blastbeats. Anata's unique style of mixing almost breakdown style guitar riffs into very atmosphereic, melodic leads is executed very well on this album, at a mid to fast pace.

The point is, this is a great album from a great band, and stands on its own no matter what your prior experience with the band is. Just don't expect UASWNI part II.