03 A TRILOGY PART 2

18 after When Dream and Day Unite, Charlie Dominici is back to the prog metal world

Charlie Dominici, the second Dream theater vocalist, is still best known around the world for being the Dream theater vocalist at the album When Dream and Day unite, but this album proves this may not be true for much longer. After completely disappearing from the prog metal scene after the 1989 album, he comes back to prog metal with a killer second album that differs very much from his album with the new yorker band.

Clearly more influenced by power metal than his ex-comrades, the album has, throughout its length, an upbeat mood that contrasts greatly with the sad concept of the trilogy, that is about the life a terrorist. In this album, the part 2 of the concept, the terrorist that is trying to destroy the word is arrested and, having second thoughts about his actions, eventually sides with the own police officer that arrested him.

Though the album is very good as a whole, after the first three songs its quality drops a bit. In fact, if the album had the same quality as the opening song it would probably a masterpiece, but since it is not what happens, it is just a very good album. The highlights go to the first three songs plus one: The Monster, Nowhere to Hide, Captured and The Calling. One funny thing about the name of the songs is that four out of nine of them stars with the.

The instrumental work is very elaborate, much like the prog metal genre. The guitar and the keyboard do a great job leading the band, together with the vocals. The drums also do a terrific job. The vocals are also nice, but i know for a fact that Charlie cannot sing this well live, so although the vocals are nice they have been retouched in the mixing or mastering or whatever.

Grade and Final Thoughts

Dominici's rebirth in the prog metal scene is a truly solid release and with very good songs and instrumental work, as well as a very good concept also, that will completely unfolds itself in the next album. Such a good album deserves a good grade, and so it will be. 4 stars, that's it.

It's long time since Charlie Dominici was behind the microphone in famous Dream Theater on When dream and day unite. After the departure from DT , he stood many years in shadow, 'till early this decade when decided to form a progressive metal band under Dominici name. He gathered around him a bunch of great musicians from italian progressive metal band Solid Vision (all musicians are in Dominici minus of course the voice). He release the first part of the trilogy in 2005 , but was almost unnoticed in prog circles, so he wanted more and puted on the market the second part of the trlogy in 2007. Much better then the first , a truly progressive metal album with great musicianship and great ideas. The pieces are elaborated, technical with some most amazing prog metal pieces in last years. With this album shows that Dominici know bussines in prog metal field and is on a good path without being influenced by DT this album show a mature work, with great vocals from himself - Dominici. From the first pieces, the opening The monster - an instrumental journey through this powerfull release, entire band shows their musical talent, great track that i maybe the best from here ore among the best. From this pieces 'till the last the band shines on every piece, from vocal department who is very good and strong 'till the last track A new hop this second part of the trilogy mean bussines. Even in parts the DT influences are minore, Dominici knew how to make this album strong and not to fall in another DT clone, specially when he was a member of this band 20 years earlier. Well done album who desearves 4 star from me, the best album from all 3 parts and a perfect example of how must sound a progressive metal album these days.

Eclectic prog metal for the win!

It's not a surprise that the former singer of Dream Theater's music will sound something like Dream Theater. For this reason, I will not rip on Charlie Dominici for his DT-esque riffs and soloing. However, within this powerful gem, one can find many modern prog metal references. Obviously Dream Theater is foremost, but Symphony X, Kamelot, Vanden Plas, and other popular symphonic prog metal band's styles can be found compiled into one fantastic piece of music. The O3 trilogy comes back in this second installment, now actually rocking and progging along, unlike part 1. This part details the main character's experience after his parole and release after his hearing and the gut-wrenching decisions he must make. The music is powerful the whole way through, only slowing down to take a breathe when absolutely necessary. Although some of the songs sound uncannily like the singer's former band, but the music is still creative and powerful.

The Monster is a crushingly powerful instrumental track. Dominici is apparently one of the few solo singers who is willing to put an instrumental track on his album-- to great results! Although the soloing is extremely Petrucci-esque, the whole performance is very impressive. A lot of Vanden Plas sounding keyboard work is going on, adding to the whole traditional prog metal feel. You can see that Dominici has done a lot of listening over the near 20 year gap between this release and his last prog metal gap. At the end of the track, you can hear a sound bit that opens up the story for the next few tracks about the detective who arrested the main character.

Nowhere to Hide is the first track where we can finally hear Dominici's voice in its crushing power. In this track, the concept breaks away from the main character (see my review for Part 1) and tells the story of a troubled detective who has been chasing the terrorist. The song tells how the detective captured the terrorist, but he lost his temper and basically tortured him. Because of this, the court hearing let the terrorist walk because of tampered evidence. The detective muses about how he'll get back at the terrorist and convict justly. Musically, the song still has that amazing power, with a little more creativity behind the riffing. It shows Dominici has not only prog metal, but also a lot of traditional heavy metal influence behind his music.

Captured opens with a radio bit, saying that the government is becoming more aware of terrorist activity. The detective tells his griefs about the justice system and it's flaws. He thinks about how all the criminals who know the ins and outs of the justice system can avoid any contact with the feds and cops. Musically, the tracks slows down with the emotions of the detective, which shows the great attention to character development and conceptual basis. As the detective's anger grows, the song picks up and gets more aggressive, following the compassionate vocals. This track shows the more dynamic side of Dominci's music.

Greed, the Evil Seed starts again the crushing power of symphonic prog metal. We are now hearing from the main character, the terrorist, who thinks about the injustice of the system and the power of greed in our society. He thinks about how humanity tried to get along, but the greedy ones ruined it all (greed=evil). Musically, this starts again the Dream Theater influence, with some fantastic synchronization and great Petrucci-esque soloing again. Instrumental sections abound in this song, powerful, melodic, and fun.

School of Pain tells the main character's time in prison after he was captured and wrongly convicted. He talks about how screwed up the "school of pain" is and how he really learned nothing. Musically, the song is a slow bloomer, starting out slow and gaining momentum throughout the song. Once it picks up, however, it doesn't slow down, constantly ripping up the pavement with it's impressive power and musical might.

The Calling tells how the terrorist now understands that he has to do what he was originally told to do (essentially destroy humanity). He calls humanity the greatest virus and his chemical the solution. Musically the song starts off rather boring, but the verses are so incredible I really can't dis the straightforwardness of it. The choruses get a little more boring again, but that verse riff is incredible.

The Real Life is a melancholy and beautiful track consisting of piano and vocals. In this song, the main character has reached a breaking point. He muses on how he will be a martyr when he releases his chemical and how the afterlife is the "real life." Musically, it is melancholy and beautiful, with fantastic melodies and fantastic piano work.

The Cop tells of the deal the detective makes with the main character; the main character tells his entire story to the detective so he might be able to escape prison. Musically, the song rocks again. It has fantastic prog metal-heavy metal crossovers, with some great instrumental sections again.

A New Hope tells of the main character's journey to releasing his chemical. It displays his rise to some kind of a prophet or something along those lines, for you can hear crowds of people chanting after he speaks about humanity ending being a new hope. At the end of the song, a massive explosion is heard, showing obviously that he has succeeded in releasing his chemical. Musically, the song has some obvious influences more than ever to Dream Theater, at some points their modern work, at some points their classic work, but everywhere Dream Theater. As I said before, this is acceptable, seeing as the singer is a former member of that very band. If it were another band, I would give a much lower rating. The soloing is fantastic, showing all the members' musical capacity to really rip on their instruments. This track really leads nicely into the next and final installation.

ALBUM OVERALL: A really great symphonic progressive metal album. Dominici and his backing band have really hit it big here. However, musically, the album lacks in originality harshly. Now, influence is good, but when it seems like your listening to that particular band when you listen to the music, for example the extreme Vanden Plas and Dream Theater influence, the music sounds cheesier and cheesier. The concept, just like the last album, is fantastic, as are the vocals, but the one thing holding this album back is the unoriginality of the music. The players are technically over the top, but the music they wrote is disappointing. 4+ stars.

Holy crap, I didn't realize Dream Theater released a new album!

Wait, this isn't DT? Then why the hell does it sound exactly like them?

Guess someone still has some pent-up angst for getting dumped almost 15 years ago.

Obviously pissed off that he got trashed in the can from a band that now is living in in the proverbial "hall of fame" of prog bands, Charlie Dominici obviously wanted to get in on the action. His first album was acoustic, so this is technically his first album. From an aesthestics standpoint, I'm drawn in to the fancy album cover and the first track intrigues me. Yet, once you dig in deeper, you realize one true fact. Dominici obviously had NO intention on being innovative for this album.

The concept is there, and I'll give him two stars for the concept alone. A story about a life- changed suicide bomber in America spanning 3 albums is very ambitious to say the least and is definitely one worth applauding. But, unfortunately, those are really the only positives I can take from this disc. Dream Theater fans have scalded me for not liking this album simply because I am a diehard DT fan and that I just can't really get into this album.

Right from the start "The Monster", the riffs and chords are recognizable, and since this trck is instrumental, I'm all for it. Yes, I'm a little upset that Dominici doesn't have the slightest bit of ingenuity in his head to make an album that differs at least a little bit from Dream Theater, but as for as aesthetics are concerned, he hits it right on the head. If I didn't know and memorize ever single Dream Theater song and listened to "The Monster", I could easily mistake it as a DT song. From the riffs, to the acoustic interlude to the all out blitzkrieg solos at the very out, the whole song just screams Dream Theater. The conversation at the end of the track could have been staged better but in all senses concerned, my attention has now been gained, and further exploration inside this album must commence, and it's a promising beginning.

And then Dominici starts singing. And I immediately start looking for the nearest power drill so I can shove it in my ear.

This is a clone unlike any other. The chorus' are DT esque as usual, but during the verses where it's just Dominici and no overlap, it's a sound that reminds me of Godsmack covering "Good Times Bad Times". They both sound like crap. Litteraly. This is Dominici pretending to be who he isn't. There is a reason why Dream Theater gave him "das boot", because he can't sing like James LaBrie, therefore, he shouldn't sing for Dream Theater. Did that deter him for releasing an album that sounds exactly like Dream Theater's "Train Of Thought"?

Nooooooooooooooo.........................

Before I start pissing people off, Pt. 3 is the better of Dominici's trilogy, simply because it's a more refined Dream Theater clone and Dominici realizes that he can't hit the high notes that LaBrie (used to) hit (even though he can still hit pretty high in the register). But this particular disc can almost be mistaken for a demo of all things! "Captured" is just another example. Dominici is just s***s the bed everywhere all over this song. Not only does he sound terrible, his songwriting is terrible as well! The instrumentaion is all fine and dandy, it's just Dominici himself can't sing DT's style of prog metal!

And when you sound terrible on the record that bears your own name........

Song after song is like grain of rice after grain of rice. You may get a brown grain of rice or an abnormal grain of rice, but it's all still rice. Yes, I just did it. I compared this album to grains of rice (now I know I'm an asshole). "School Of Pain" is approached differently compared to "Greed The Evil Seed", but it all just seems to end the seed. This entire disc sounds like a broken record, and I'm getting rehashed versions of Dream Theater. If I'm wrong, then so help me, do me a favor.

Listen to "The Calling" of this disc. Then, search for Dream Theater's "Train of Thought" and listen to "Honor Thy Father". If you can't realize the riffs are exactly the same, you need your freakin' head checked. Then Dominici starts singing and kills the song again. This is where I just stopped and ran outside my house and started covering my face in my hands. Then I went back inside and made myself a sandwich listening to The Rolling Stone's "Wild Horses" on the radio.

All in all, if you love Charlie and his voice, get this album. If you think he's a chump, avoid this disc like the plague. I wish I could give this an extra star, but it's just not worth it. It's like trying to sell a lump of dog crap for 5 cents simply because it's the nicest pile of s*** you've seen.

I love the guy, but his music? Ehhhh.... that's a whole different story. 1 star for the concept, but nothing more, I'm afraid.

When hearing the name "Dominici," most metalheads or progressive rock fans will think of "that guy who got replaced by James LaBrie in Dream Theater." It's a sad truth to accept, seeing as Charlie Dominici's solo work has been quite solid, including his epic O3 Trilogy. As the name suggests, these are indeed concept albums, deftly combining pounding aggression (at least Parts 2 and 3) and narrative into a very complete package. Part 2 of this trilogy just happens to be a very underrated gem that fans of Dream Theater or Queensryche should seriously own.

Opening with a daunting 8.5 minutes of instrumental work to kick things off, it's clear that these guys are setting the bar high from the start. What's refreshing is the lack of wankery and useless mechanical shredding that's become so common in progressive records these days. As soon as the song wraps up, a narrative section segues into the next track, "Nowhere to Hide." These segments are what move the plot forward as the album goes, and this seems to be the story in a nutshell: A sleeper cell preaches against societal evils while in America and gets wrongly convicted by the law. Dominici does a commendable job keeping the character convincing throughout the album with the conviction in his vocal performance.

One thing that's extremely pleasing about all this is how tight the band sounds; nothing ever sounds out of place, and the songs rarely sound aimless. For instance, look at highlight "Greed, the Evil Seed"; the initial riff sounds a tad generic, but the way the synthesizers layer over the heavy guitar work and the drum work stays varied throughout makes it so the listener doesn't get bored until Dominici's vocals spice things up.

If there was an album peak or centerpiece, it'd have to be "School of Pain." I could go on for HOURS about how good this song is... between the way the guitar sends the listener into an Agalloch-style pit of depression, how immensely effective Dominici's vocals are in sounding like he was really thrown into the hell his character was sent into, and how smoothly the transitions in dynamics are in the song. Everything feels like it was put here for a reason, and the atmosphere is exceptionally powerful.

If there was any flaw, I'd say it's the fact that occasionally the band fall into that Dream Theater-style trap of repeating riffs or motifs; this doesn't happen often, but sometimes over the course of the album you'll find two songs sounding really similar when put side to side. It's a minor gripe, though, a small blemish on an otherwise excellent record.

Many bands and artists try the whole concept-album route these days, but Dominici and co. are able to pull it off WELL, and have damn good progressive metal to boot. Highly recommended.

(Originally published on Sputnikmusic)