Dream Death - Somnium Excessum (2013)

    Dream Death was formed in 1985, and during their short active period in the '80s they've released one full-length album, that sounded quite unusual at the time, especially compared to other coetaneous American bands. Their themes and sound strongly reminded to Celtic Frost, and their music in general was like a mix of hardcore/crossover thrash and doom metal. Even if "Journey into Mystery" didn't receive wide attention back then, with time the album got rediscovered by underground audiences and gained a cultic status because of its genuine sound. 

   Probably this outcome of events (on the side of the necessarily occuring nostalgia wave of aging musicians) led the band members to resurrect Dream Death two decades later. They've recalled their old style with success, but this time focusing more on the contrast of hardcore/crossover thrash and doom themes. The Celtic Frost influences are still there, but their importance reduced a bit. By this step, the narrative, shouting vocal style have lost its only validating holding ground, and it's ineffectiveness is floating above heavier than before. Especially since the '80s have been over since a long while. Honestly, this style mix have never been an absolute win, since these two styles are kinda difficult to merge and perform by leaving behind something unified and enjoyable. The song structures and musical solutions are interesting though, but the same time they just making the songs harder to go into. Back then the old Celtic Frost influences did have unifying role, while their strong presence took a lot from the band's genuineness, but by their reduced role, this unity was damaged. "Somnium Excessum" sounds like a less advantageous form of an early Carnivore influenced Type O Negative album, that was lost somewhere between two exaggerated points. For the fans of special and unusual music experiments it might be worth to give it a listen.