OUT OF THE VOID

When I look back over my writings of the last 30+ years I divide it into two distinct periods, namely when I was in my country of birth, and when I moved to my country of choice, so up to and including 2006 for the first and 2007 onwards for the latter (although we moved to Aotearoa 15 years ago I managed to get away with not writing anything at all at least for a few months). Dream Aria belong in the first period, as I fell in love with and reviewed their debut album the year it was released, 2005. Due to the move I lost touch with many bands at the time, especially as I had decided not to write anymore (we can all see how that worked out), but a few years back I again got in touch with keyboard player Don Stagg and singer Ann Burstyn, and have been fortunate enough to hear both their excellent 2017 album 'On The Other Side' and their new one, 'Out of the Void'.

As with many bands, they have been through a lot in their career, both musically and personally, and this has had an impact on their output which means this is only their fifth album, but it is all about the quality and not the quantity. Although they have roots in neo-prog, they are often more symphonic in nature with swathes of keyboards combining with pushing guitars and (sometimes) violin while at the front of them all is Ann. She is one of those singers who can turn on both rock and trained classical, providing not only a wonderful range of notes but also totally different ways of hitting those notes as she uses head voice at times, mixing it up at others. There is a warmth and acceptance on this album unlike many in the scene, with a wonderfully sympathetic production which allows the listener to sit with headphones on, gradually turning up the volume. It is an inviting piece if work, which while never challenging allows the band to provide power when the time is right. I still do not understand why Dream Aria are not more widely known with the prog world, and as I write this, it will be the first review on ProgArchives for an album which has been out for nearly a year. For those who enjoy female fronted progressive rock, then Dream Aria is a name you should be aware of, and this is a great place to start the discovery.