Heretics

Dream The Electric Sleep

Independent release, 2014

http://www.dreamtheelectricsleep.com

REVIEW BY: Benjamin Ray

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 04/04/2014

It would appear that progressive rock is as strong a genre as ever, with a new crop of bands every few years drawing inspiration from both the avowed classics of the 1970s and the rock that has been popular in each successive decade. So now, in the 2010s (does this decade have a name yet?), bands can draw from a deep well of prog old (Genesis, ELP, King Crimson) and newer (Queensryche, Spock's Beard, Dream Theater, Big Big Train) to create a new crop of album-oriented epics.

The challenge, as with any genre, is to be both modern and unique, to show how this oft-derided style of music can be relevant and still break boundaries, the way the best progressive music does. Dream the Electric Sleep is one of the newer entities hoping to pull this off, and although Heretics has some great moments, by and large it is too disjointed to truly succeed.

This is the trio's second outing after 2011's well-recieved Lost And Gone Forevermy_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250 (not counting a 2012 collection of rarities and B-sides, which seems a bit premature after only one album, but whatever). Here, eleven songs are spread out over an hour and 13 minutes, broken up into five separately titled sections that aren't related except maybe by oblique lyrics. The concept seems to concern a story of physical, emotional and mental imprisonment, the realization that things don't have to be that way, and the fight and freedom from what holds us captive. Matt Page's lyrics never really mention anything specific, instead making references to bad relationships, religion, societal pressure and celebrity worship as things that imprison us in some way.

As with most neo-prog, the playing is impressive and exceptional throughout and mostly free of extended solos, flashy showing off and nonexistent or obtuse/insipid lyrics. Unfortunately, Heretics falls into the trap of giving many of the songs two, three or four different sections, which may be technically impressive but doesn't give the listener a chance to pick out favorite songs. Instead, there will be a passage or two in each song that sounds great and probably could have stood on its own as a developed song. The best prog albums know how to write individual songs, and if there must be a suite, it is tied together at the end or at least follows a logical pattern (think "Echoes," "And You And I," "The First Rebreather" or "Pull Me Under," the latter being Dream Theater's finest hour).

That said, the playing is quite good, from the gut-punch of the first part of "How Long We Wait" to the bottom-end bass and closing cacophony of "Ashes Fall" to the sort of rock single "First To Face." The mostly instrumental opener "Heretics" confidently moves through its sections, drawing on modern rock guitar patterns (one pattern sounds close to System Of A Down's "Aerials," for example), "Utopic" is dramatic and heavy in the grand Dream Theater/Spock's Beard tradition and "It Must Taste Good" works a sinister, sarcastic vibe in its excoriation of a self-absorbed fame whore.

There are sections in all of these songs that are great, and there are sections that are not, and sometimes they don't match up. It's frustrating because the talent is obviously there, and it's still recommended for neo-prog fans to at least check out, but Heretics falls short of making the impact it should.

Rating: C

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


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