CDReviews

DreamSpy – My Halo of Obsession

Inverse Records   Playing time: 36 minutes   Release: June 26th 2020

I had a 40-minute drive planned for today, which always turns out to be perfect time to discover new music. “My Halo of obsession”, a debut album of DreamSpy, caught my eye right away: firstly, it is a solo-project of “Voice of Finland (season 2)” contestant Anssi Tamminen coached by Michael Monroe; secondly, neither of 10 songs contains guitar tracks – have you heard rock music played without guitar before? Finally, the genre of the album is dark atmospheric rock, a fine combination of melodic and heavy music.

First notes of “Bitter sweet” made me turn the volume as high as possible and roll the windows down: intriguing intro of synthesizer followed by bass riffs and growing sound of drums, like in a good movie, promised high-quality entertainment for the next 10 songs. DreamSpy’s debut album appeared to be the case when reality meets expectation. Song by song, you feel empathy for the character whose unlucky and sadistic love is his “bitter sweet destiny” as well as pain when his love is gone and he is ready to do anything for her: “I can try, I can fly, I can die for you”.

However, hooligan-styled “Sidetracktrain” won’t let dark thoughts catch your mind for too long. The order of songs on the album is close to perfect: faster and more lively songs alternate with slower and darker ones, keeping you interested to learn what is hidden in the next one. Powerful bass is an important attribute of all the songs and piano plus synthesizer appear from time to time, giving a special spice to songs. It is worth mentioning that Anssi Tamminen actively plays with his vocals, going from a fragile whisper to a blustering of a baritone in different songs – for example, in “The Mirror”.

“My Halo of Obsession”, the song that gave the title to the whole album, has the most melodic vocals and is very energetic. In my point of view, it could have been the last one: the current 10th song, “In Badlands”, is the only track that did not have any special impression on me – or perhaps the impression was blurred after the previous really good and atmospheric song.

All in all, “My Halo of Obsession” is definitely worth listening, or better watching: DreamSpy made a lyric video for each of the songs accompanied by a catchy video sequence. The album will be especially liked by fans of ShamRain and Type O Negative whose songs’ echoes can be found in DreamSpy’s debut album.

DreamSpy’s official website: http://www.dreamspy.org

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXCgtm3k_QuNT5EPGtQNXOA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dreamspyofficial

Instagram: https://www.instagram/dreamspyart

  • 9/10
    Bewertung / rating - 9/10
9/10

GastmitarbeiterInnen / guest contributions

Regular guest contributors e.g. Melanie Kircher, Tatjana Tattis Murschel, Grit Kabiersch, Marina Minkler, Jasmine Frey, Maria Levin, Elvira Visser, Nina Ratavaara, John Wisniewski