DREAM WEAVER – Words Carved Within

Dream Weaver is a band whose name has been floating around for some time now; although you have never really heard them, since they have only taunted us with demos and extended plays for more than ten years. With their latest release, Words Carved Within, Dream Weaver have finally delivered their long-awaited debut full-length disk.

Melodic Metal fans are sure to enjoy the writing style of Dream Weaver, which delivers bone-crunching guitar riffs and complex instrumental parts while keeping the embodiment of the songs the main focus. Most of the tracks run about five minutes in length. While there is ample time for showcasing the talents of the musicians, the overall structure tends to leans towards a more conventional, radio-friendly rock style. Songs like “Light in the Dark,” “Soulsearching,” and “Wings of Forever” show real promise and could be released as singles.

Setting the foundation for these songs is drummer John Basimakopoulos, who really expands beyond just keeping the beat. Sometimes he’s on the verge of over-playing, but you almost expect that on a first album. George Zacharoglow demonstrates some flashy guitar work while keeping the riffing steady with a lot of big crunch. Takis Fytos is outstanding as the newest member of the band on bass. Fytos gave a small impression of what he was capable of on the two song release Soulsearching, so it is nice to get to hear him lay down solid, yet melodic, bass lines and still have the ability to double some of George’s guitar licks. Besides some thin sounds here and there in the recordings, these three musicians deliver a solid first effort and obviously can write a song and perform it with great success.

Unfortunately here is where the praise stops. All of the new ideas and catchy melodies become compromised by Jim Marcou’s vocals. That isn’t to say Marcou isn’t talented; it sounds like the ability is there, he just doesn’t know how to use it. Besides being off key almost the entire time, there is no projection to his voice at all. It is as if he were singing from behind a wall of marshmallow fluff.

Now sometimes Metal is just what it is: raw, aggressive power. Correct key isn’t always the goal; in fact, you might go so far as to say it is rarely the goal. But these are good songs, very interesting and deserving, yet the vocals causes a conflict for the listener. On one hand, there is a reason to hear these songs; through the infectious guitar in ”Light in the Dark,” one almost expects to hear Geoff Tate start wailing. Fytos’ exuberant bass playing on “Wings of Forever” and his cool outro on “Eyes of the Day” are worthy of airtime. Unfortunately, the exhausting experience of listening to Marcou continuously fail to reach the right note just creates discord and frustration.

Dream Weaver is a band that stands on the precipice of greatness. They have quality song-writing skills with above-average musicianship, and they are ready to explode on the scene. However, unless they strengthen their weak link, Dream Weaver will be conjuring nightmares for the discerning Metal fan.