Power metal band Dreamyth come onto the scene with their debut full length Aletheia, an album filled with everything one would expect in power metal from the heavy riffs, soaring vocals, and lush arrangements.
Dreamyth, a combination of dream and myth, is a Spanish melodic power metal band started in 2020 by guitarist Adrián Carrer0, drummer Davi Macarrilla, and vocalist Andrea Carrero. For Aletheia, guitarist Dani González Suárez and keyboardist Paolo Andreotti joined and Dani González Suárez recorded, mixed and mastered the album in his Estudios Dynamita studio. For a band new on the scene, they were able to recruit some great guest talent to participate with guest vocals from Ralph Scheepers (Primal Fear), Herbie Langhans (Firewind, Avantasia) and Eduardo Guilló (Sun of the Dying, Crusade of Bardos and a keyboard solo from Bob Katsionis (ex-Firewind). Production and mixing quality is excellent with all instruments clear in the mix and the vocals coming through very clearly if a bit too pronounced in the mix for my taste.
The album opens up with a keyboard –driven atmospheric intro track featuring a spoken intro to set the stage. In general, I’m not big fan of intro tracks but given the genre, this one works for me. “Odyssey” is the first real track on the album and did bring some surprises in the clean female lead vocals being offset by some death metal growls along the way from guest vocalist Eduardo Guilló. The overall melody ends up being quite catchy and the use of a choral like backing in places works really well. The female lead vocals are incredibly clear and strong and the tone is amazing and unique. Being power metal, one would expect some great guitar work and that is the case here as well and there is a bit of restraint in the solo and some good songcraft working it seamlessly into the song. Later in the album, Eduardo contributes more vocals in similar style on “The Curse of the Erinyes” and they work equally well there.
The title track “Aletheia” continues in the same vein as “Odyssey” but this time guest vocalist Herbie Langhans is on board to lend a hand which provides a very different feel compared to the death growls from the male vocals in “Odyssey”. Drummer David Macarrilla really gets a workout in this track with its breakneck pace. Langhans and Carrero’s vocals blend very well in the track and the harmonies are great to hear. At this point, the keyboards from Paolo Andreotti become noticed by the listener for their overall contribution to the soundscape as they are not dominating or in the forefront for a lot of the songs but they are indispensable for the overall sound.
“In this Nightmare” has some clean guitar opening that reminds me a bit of “Nothing Else Matters” (Metallica) in terms of tone and then Andrea Carrero’s vocals come in again, so clear and unique in an almost acapella setting before the song really takes off. I like the combination of the slower, quieter parts and faster loud sections of the song and how the band has tied them together especially the guitar/vocal harmony part toward the end. Little aspects like this in the songs really add to the overall experience on this album.
“Dreamland” seems to be the track where the band pulled out all the stops and brought in Ralph Scheepers (Primal Fear) for guest vocals and Bob Katsionis (ex-Firewind) for a keyboard solo. Scheepers vocals also blend exceptionally well with Carrero’s on the track and the song has an overall epic feel to it from the beginning largely due to the keyboards setting the overall tone. That being said the guitars and drums are not lost at all.
“Firelove” is one of those songs that has an incredibly catchy melody and then in the verses there are sections largely driving by the bass and drums reminiscent of elements in some 80’s metal . Following the guitar solo, the song goes much quieter for a section with just piano and vocals and has hints of Queen in the solo and harmonized vocals. Here the production quality really stands out to me with just the vocals and piano. After this section the rest of the band comes in along with the soaring choral backing vocals which are really strong throughout the album.
“Fairytale” is a standout track for multiple reasons. First is it primarily just vocals, acoustic guitar and atmospheric keyboards. The track itself highlights the strong vocal performances, both female and male in both solo and harmony section and the early female vocals have an amazing whimsical quality to them that is present on other songs but really stands out in this setting. The last two tracks “My Delight” and “Down to the Moon” have the band returning back to their brand of melodic power metal and the album closes out with an instrumental outro “In Aeternum”. There is a bonus version of Fairytale at the end as a bonus track “Cuento de Hadas” that is just as good as the album version and different enough to warrant a listen again for the vocal performances.
Dreamyth have released quite an impressive album for a debut. Their melodic power metal has all the elements one would want from driving riffs to strong vocal performances, to epic arrangements and to their credit, the songs have a unique quality to them that sets them apart from similar bands.
Rating: 8/10
Written by John Jackson
Tracklist
- Creatio Ex Nihilo (Intro)
- Odyssey (feat. Eduardo Guilló)
- Aletheia (feat. Herbie Langhans)
- In this Nightmare
- The Curse of the Erinyes (feat. Eduardo Guilló)
- Dreamland (feat. Ralph Scheepers, Bob Katsioinis)
- Firelove
- Fairytale
- My Delight
- Down to the Moon
- In Aeternum (Outro)
- Cuento de Hadas (bonus)
Band Members
Adrián Carrero – guitars
Dani González Suárez – guitars
David Macarrilla – drums
Andrea Carrero – vocals
Paolo Andreotti – keyboards
Release Date: 14 April 2023
Record Label: Rockshots Records, 2023
For more info: Instagram.com/dreamyth.official | Facebook.com/DreamythOfficial | Twitter.com/Dreamyth_ |
Video for “Odyssey”
Video for “Dreamland”
Lyric video for “Aletheia”
