Review Summary: An excellent death metal album if a little derivative.
There are those bands that might toss in the occasional melodic section or something to calm the nerves of the listener, and then there is Brought By Pain. Brought By Pain is the kind of death metal band that rely on their technical abilities to razzle dazzle and numb their audience. Their version of death metal is an endless state of full-speed-ahead everything. This train never stops and its sound is merciless with insane double bass work and blastbeats that propel the train. You’d think that the drummer would get tired at some point, but no, every song is as insanely steam powered as the next (except for ‘The Immaturity Of Verity’, which is the only somewhat boring song in the album). Add on to that an equally proficient guitarist that prefers unpredictable but well thought out riffs, and you get the picture.
While Brought By Pain’s technical abilities are undeniably impressive, there’s more to this album than just mind-blowing technicality. It’s one thing to know how to play your instrument, and another thing to use those instruments to make songs that have logical progressions. The songs in
The Dreamer’s Will have incredible flow, so that despite constantly confusing riffs and time signature changes, songs never feel disjointed. Unfortunately, this means that songs are difficult to tell apart, because with the constant flow, the album ends up as a constant barrage of noise with no unique characteristics aside from the occasional short guitar solo or pig squeal. With their abilities, they could surely create something original, but as it is,
The Dreamer’s Will doesn’t exactly stand out. This, perhaps, is a petty gripe considering the album’s otherwise integrity, but it is enough to wish for some slight improvements in their next album. Nonetheless,
The Dreamer’s Will is an excellent death metal album if a little derivative.
