WITHIN THE REALM OF A DYING SUN

Significant alterations notwithstanding, DCD remained tailored for a certain cold wave goth audience even on their 3rd album. Luckily they here offer much more eclectic and multidimensional pieces that allow strands of light to penetrate to a widening fan base, probably counting disgruntled late 80s prog fans among them.

Things start off on the right foot right away, with "Anywhere Out of the World" accumulating ambient lush keyboard sounds for the first couple of minutes before Perry's voice tackles a strong melody straddling the line between 80s new wave and 70s progressive masters. Occasionally one wonders if the group had not listened to ENYA's "The Celts", her brilliant debut prior to laying down these tracks. "Windfall" does give this impression with its lovely flute sounds, and especially the somewhat less effective "In the Wake of Diversity".

The real highlights are the wondrously layered "Xavier" and the transfixing "Summoning of the Muse" the latter allowing Gerard to shines. Both of these could keep old fans happy and also satisfy those who want greater emotional commitment. They easily make up for the some of the excesses of "Cantara" which, in spite of its flaws, confirms a new attitude and direction for the group, and Gerard 's singing here might have helped shape the style of Dolores O'Riorden of the CRANBERRIES who came along a bit later.

It turns out that even a ray of light from a dying sun makes a world of difference to the DCD sound, a mere tweak to the stifling perpetual post-dusk of earlier albums.