DREAM OF ILLUSION – Decadence

Italian-based Metal bands have become increasingly more popular over the past few years. There is a trend of some great talent coming from Italy, with bands like Labyrinth, Lacuna Coil, and Rhapsody Of Fire leading the charge. Dream Of Illusion seems to be the next great thing to come from Italy. This is a very young band with all members in their early 20’s, and tremendous ability beyond their years. Their catchy blend of Hardcore, Melodic, and Power Metal makes for a very exciting and enthusiastic album.

The original line-up of Dream Of Illusion featured a female voice, Alessandra Ferrari, who left the band in 2007. Enter Francesco “Frank” Valentini as vocalist. With Valentini, the band began to develop into a more modern and heavy style of Metal.

Valentini’s voice is clearly the main ingredient to the success and identity of this band. He presents clean and crisp high-pitched vocals. The style is somewhat a combination of Glenn Hughes and James LaBrie. His passionate and adoring singing style seems to climax on each and every track. One of the best vocal performances can be heard on the track “Through The Storm”, which is a very fervent performance and shows off his vast range.

Decadence also features an extraordinarily talented guitar duo of Andrea Giarola and Riccardo “Rick” De Fanti. All of the tracks contain very heavy and pulsating riffs. There are no keyboards to be heard anywhere on this album; its 100% kick ass guitar-based Metal. Although the songs are written generally as Progressive and Melodic, the intense guitar riffs dominate. The opening track “The Crow” blows you away with the driving fast rhythm of the tandem guitars, but the peak of the song is the amazing classic and shredding guitar solo, which sets the tone for the whole album.

One of the highlights of the album is the track “Rocker Warrior”. This is a Classic Heavy Rock, head-banging style song with an incredible guitar riff and a great melody. Once again Valentini shows off his incredible vocal range, and he commands fist pounding during the enchanting, uplifting chorus. Other high points include the acoustic and melancholy “Two Skies” as well as the forceful and compelling “Spiked Rain”.

Dream Of Illusion is a fascinating and dynamic band, with an abundance of talent. It’s nice to hear a “back to basics” approach to Metal, rather than adding layers upon layers of music to the point of excess. Decadence is an album that exemplifies what being a hard rocking Metalhead is all about. A perfect blend of stable Hardcore Metal and harmony is what makes this album great.