DREAMS OF SANITY

Falling under the subgenre of progressive, power, gothic or symphonic metal (pick one), Dreams of Sanity have that perfect blend of heavy, grooving guitar riffs with plenty of melodic keyboards and string sounds. The songs have complex structures with plenty of excellent interplay between all involved, but without the mindless shredding and endless soloing that the genre is sometimes (in)famous for.

The production is absolutely spot on here. While the band's debut 'K'm'dia' was fairly average, it's follow-up, 'Masquerade' was a massive leap forward, and so building upon that, with 'The Game' the Austrian's have really nailed the rich, vibrant and clear sound that gives every instrument clarity and warmth.

With songs such as 'The Beginning That Lies', 'The Creature That You Came to See', 'And So (I Walk On)', 'We.II.Sea', 'The Empress', and... ah, you know what? Bugger it, they're all brilliant! Dreams of Sanity really hit their stride with this release, and it's an absolute travesty that the band fell apart shortly after. Still, I'm glad I stumbled across these guys, because this is an incredible album by a hugely underrated band.

Most noticeable with this album is the much-improved production, with a crisp and clear sound that really emphasizes every instrument. The musicianship is fantastic between the band members, with heavy and interesting guitar riffs that are perfectly complimented with some intricate keyboard melodies. The interplay between everyone involved is great, while never being overbearing or detracting from the flow of the music itself.

There are a few moments where things tend to lull, but for the most part, this is a solid effort. The songs fit together well, with lots of energetic performances that makes for a good listen. Some of the highlights involve parts one and two of the five-track piece 'Masquerade', 'Within (The Dragon)' and 'Lost Paradise '99'. Of particular note is 'Masquerade Act 2', which ends with a fantastic crescendo that builds up with more and more tension over a minute and a half, but never dips in momentum.

Overall, this is a good album by Dreams of Sanity. It's far from perfect, but it's a huge improvement upon their debut, and a precursor to what will become their finest work, with their next album.

While I can understand the lyrical themes or imagery that might come with being labelled as "gothic", I've never quite considered gothic metal itself a subgenre. Perhaps I find it too pedantic or pretentious, but I just like to keep things simple. As a result, I consider Dreams of Sanity to be a power/progressive/possibly symphonic metal band. Long, intricate song structures with plenty of exotic musical passages, guitar and keyboard solos, odd time signatures, higher-ranged vocals and multiple songs that follow the same theme... it's all here.

It's just not very good.

The band are tight. They're all very good musicians, and the production is alright, though very raw and harsh compared to the bands later releases. But I just don't find anything really all too exciting in the music itself. The songs all drag on, with seemingly very few moments that actually stand out. Tracks like 'The Meeting' and 'The Ending' are alright, but even they tend to lag at times.

I can't really sum it up any better than this; I like this band, but I'm not a fan of this album. Check out 'The Game' instead.

In the still prolific vocalist Sandra Schleret, they had a brilliant vocalist. No wonder she is a solo artist now. The music is fitted in behind her voice. The music is a blend of neo classical music and goth metal. Plenty of beautiful progressive goth rock can be found on this album. In a song like The Beginning That Lies, they also had an ace up their sleeve.

The result is a good album. Besides of The Beginning That Lies, there is no real great songs. But there are no real weak songs here either. I am by no means a fan of goth metal. But this album is an exception from my disdain of this genre.

3 stars

This demo has this muddy demo sound which showcases the potential of a band. They got themselves a record deal on the back of this. Even I was sniffing around them at that time. That's why I got this demo tape.

The music here is gothic metal with some female vocals as the main asset. The music is not hard and it is not particular exciting either.... in 2011 that is. Back in 1994, it was pretty exciting. References are Nightwish and Theatre Of Tragedy. The sound is bad and the music is not particular good. Hence, you can survive without this demo tape in your house. Buy a box of Mars bars instead.

2 stars

I am neither a fan of overblown symphonic goth metal or it's leading band Nightwish. Actually, I cannot stand their Nightwish and their music. But Masquerade is an entirely different entity again.

The music is loosely based on the Phantom Of The Opera musical, I believe. This album's version of the well known song Phantom Of The Opera is superb and the best song on this album. But there is also a lot of other snacks here. The title track is around 30 minutes long and split into five parts. The longest being 10 minutes long. This is not a sparkling superb epic. But it is still rather good and I am not holding this song against them. This album trundles along in a mid pace with clear classical music leanings. It is still goth metal, though. But of the more light hearted sort.

Sandra Schleret's vocals is excellent throughout. Her vocals is rather understated and not as overstated and over the top as too many other female operatic vocalists. I have just learnt that she is still active in the scene (after the Dreams Of Sanity split in 2002) with her own website and even a fanclub. The rest of the instrumentation here is pretty generic goth metal and even metal. Chugging guitars and overstated synths. All the things I intensely dislike about goth metal.

But overall; this is a very good goth metal album. I am no fan of this genre. But this is an album also symphonic prog lovers will find highly enjoyable too. It is recommended.

3.25 stars

Dreams of sanity is an austrian prog metal band never quite manageing to crab all the attention of the listners with the 3 albums they release befor disbanding in 2001. After two almost unnoticed albums, conceptual ones , first about Dante Alighieri ("Divine Comedy") and second about Gaston Leraux ("The Phantom Of The Opera"), Dreams of sanity comes with a third album released in 2000 and named The game - released at fampus label Hall of seremon same year. So this album is again a concept one , the story of a human being -The creature - from cradle to the grave, a real intristing journey here, if besides lyrics the music is very good. Knowing this band since their second ne album, I don't know why I skip to make some review of their albums so far, seems that always something was more important then them. Now is the time, for their third album, who is to me their most progressive one, not a traditional progressive metal album in anyway, not another DT clone, the music is filled with excellent gothic metal moments, folky passages and very strong vocal arrangements,the amount of melody and melancholy is all over but together forming a great mixture with the progressive metal ones. The pieces has all balls, a thing that I like, the voice of Sandra Schleret is strong and fits very well in the bands sound, I've always been a fan of her voice together with Sabines from Edenbridge, even in places the two are quite diffrent in aproach, but good for sure. So, The game is a solid album, on same level with their second one, not better not weaker, all pieces are good with a plus on The Beginning That Lies and We.ll.sea, brilliant musicianship and very solid riffing and druming. I will give 3-3.5 for this album, while is a good one in every way I can't give more then a 3, 3 and a half, something is missing is the overall sound. Fans of The gathering, Mandylion era, Edenbridge for the more neoclassical prog metal phase, etc - Dreams of sanity is a good aqusition, for me was a pleasent listning this album.

Unfortunatly neither the songwriting nor the overall playing is as inspired and strong as on Masquerade. Still, the CD is very well recorded and has some good cuts. Even at this turbulent stage they could outdo most of prog metal bands in terms of quality. Production is quite superior to those of previous effords also. If you liked Masquerade you´ll probably enjoy this one too. If you´re new to the band I suggest you start with Masquerade. 3,5 stars.

It is only a pity that this fine group could not hold a stable line up. If they stayed together for a few more releases I´m sure they would be as big as any other prog metal legend. Schleret is a very underrated singer, with an fantastic operatic voice that works very well in other styles. Guitars, bass and drums are all well balanced and produce a wall of sound that scapes from most power metal cliches. Masquerade is a great leap forward when compared to their first (and good) release. they simply never sounded better, original and convincing. The production could be a tad better, but it is good anyway, and there are no fillers. all songs are varied and interesting, though I think some parts are better than others, as usual. And, to wrap up it all, the cover is simply beautiful.

Masquerade is the kind of CD that will please many different kinds of listeners: metal, prog, goth, etc. It´s simply a great piece fo music, hard to label, but easy to love it. 4,5 stars.

One can easily notice how the band was PROGRESSING - from average half-Power- Metal debut effort through LACRIMOSA-like second album to "The Game", which is their PROGGIEST attempt and sadly their last one. Again melodical and heavily orchestrated, with enjoyable female vocals and elements of Folk and Gothic music (usual ones ofr that kind of music ), DREAMS OF SANITY's stuff never gets boring - it may become a background for a few minutes, but then they manage to grab back your attention. Terribly overlooked and underrated band - they deserve more attention especially among Prog-Metal-Heads. I would love to see them reunite - they would be even more interesting now, I think. Thanks Avestin for addition , by the way