Review Summary: A pleasant surprise in modern metalcore.
If you have twitter and follow some of your favourite (metal)bands there, you might get followed by some guys that just started a band that sounds similar to the ones you are following. Sadly enough most of these bands are terrible. I always check them out just to do them a favor, but when The Royal followed me, I was really surprised by what I heard.
The Royal is a band from the Netherlands and has already gathered quite a following. Having people like Shawn Spann (I, The Breather) and Ryan Kirby (Fit for a King) do vocals on your first full length is quite the achievement. They don’t really add much to the record, as Semuel Pisarah sounds way more brutal and fits the music better. But not only the vocals are a strong point. The guitarists have some really nice riffs throughout the record and don’t bore you with endless breakdowns like you see so much in the scene nowadays. They even throw some solo’s in, which is even rarer.
The record starts with a symphonic intro, in the style of Born of Osiris. The guitars come in and you get hit with the fast riffs and pounding drums that you will hear throughout the entire record. The Royal will not let you catch your breath, as all the songs go hard until the record is done, with some relaxing moments like the little interlude ‘Haven’ or the middle section of ‘Defender’.
The guitar work and the Born of Osiris-esque synths are what really keeps Dreamcatchers interesting. Even though the drumming doesn’t do anything outstanding and the bass guitar isn’t audible. This doesn’t bring down the record, but it would be nice if they gave the bass some time to shine and improve on the drumming. The lyrics have the same theme most of the time, about standing up when others think you can’t and not giving up on what you dream of. It might seem like they are lazy for following the same lyrical theme throughout the record, but the lyrics are actually well done and not cringe-worthy like most of today’s metalcore bands.
If they can improve on what they already have, this band will get really big. The progressive elements mixed with the heavy instrumentation is a key to succes. They don’t have obvious flaws and even the lyrics are decent. If you are into metalcore, this band is really worth checking out!
