Review Summary: Such great riffs throughout, this album never gets boring. Some of you will notice Death influences throughout, and you may be offended by that, I don't know. But watch out for this band, they are extremely talented, and have nowhere to go but up.
I'd like to start off with saying, I reside in Louisville, Kentucky. It's not a very metal state, we are known for bluegrass, and anything country, or Lynyrd Skynard or something along those lines. So whenever a metal show comes around (at least a good one) I'm there. And Nile, Immolation, and Krisiun, happened to decide to come through, and I absolutely had to go. As soon as I got to the venue, which was "Headliner's Music Hall" I noticed Karl Sanders from Nile, right off the bat outside the bus. I consider Karl Sanders a metal god, and hey I almost pissed myself in excitement. A buddy of mine and I both got a nice salute from Karl as he went onto the bus. So I decided to go inside, and take a look at what some of the opening acts were.
A band I had not noticed on the bill was Dreaming Dead, from Los Angeles, California.. And they are good. Damn good infact. Fronted by Elizabeth Schall, who is pretty much the female incarnation of Chuck Schuldiner, thats right, I said it. Why? Because thats what her vocal style reminds me of. I kept saying to myself "They really sound like Death" They blew me away, and for not being around very long, they were very tight, and the guitar work was top notch. Not to mention the band is very down to earth and some of the nicest people. They truly deserve the success they are about to have.
On to their album "Within One"
I imagine this band is just getting started, as Dreaming Dead is starting to build a fanbase, and each time I hear them I love them more and more. The album kicks off with "Stairs Into The Vortex" which kicks you in the ass and lets you know who Dreaming Dead is and what they are about. However the resemblance between this band and Death is remarkable. The title track is a little slower paced, but it is a very song oriented track and is pretty damn catchy if you ask me, I kind of feel a bit of a black metal influence going on throughout as well.
"Putrid Is The Sky" starts out with a very nice acoustic sounding melody, the intro is beautiful, and it shows how much this band is going to be a force in the coming years. "Shadows In The Dark" picks up the pace quite a bit, and hits you in the face and doesn't let up until the song is over with, Elizabeth Schall can scream, and she is very good at it, and she is also an extremely talented guitarist, and it shows all throughout this disc. "Perpetual Pretext" was a live favorite of mine, and my opinion of this song didn't change much, it kicks ass. The final track "Manslaughter" is a 7 minute epic of a song, what a great way to end the album. Such great riffs throughout, this album never gets boring.
