Dreams in Fragments – Reflections Of A Nightmare
Album Review By Rainer Kerber
From our little neighbor Switzerland has already come a lot of excellent metal bands. Now, another Swiss band sets out on to conquer the hearts of fans. Dreams in Fragments come from the small tranquil community Wangen near Olten (Canton Solothurn). The band is often compared to Nightwish or Delain. However, they try to bring out their own touch. So at least you can read in the press release. The debut album “Reflections Of A Nightmare” will be released in June. With this they were on an Eastern European tour in early June to support their compatriots Forge.
“Another Nightwish Clone?” – many will ask. Yes and no, after a short instrumental prelude you can already hear similarities in “Everytime” but also differences. Yes, the Swiss play melodic heavy metal with a touch of symphonic music. But no, there is much less bombast here than with the Finns. And singer Seraina Schöpfer impresses with a pleasant, darker timbre. In addition, the growls of bandmate Christian Geissmann are discreetly used. But Seraina can also sing higher tones clean, as she proves in “Nightchild”. The rocky “The Maze” could also come from an album by the Dutchman Delain. Another reference tip is the midtempo song “Incomplete”. In addition to the orchestration, the bass riffs and subtle growling accompany the singing of Seraina. There are wonderfully beautiful guitar hooks to hear. The Swiss are following the hymn “Defy Every Storm” to the short orchestral interlude “Prologue”. At the end of the album there is hardly anything new to hear. Whether “Falling With A Crown”, “Little Red” or “In Flames”, the songs follow the same pattern, catchy melodies, more or less powerful riffing, double bass, pleasant vocals. There is something missing the surprise effect. This offers then again the final song “Unireverse”. At least at the beginning you can hear subtle industrial sounds.
„For fans of Nightwish, Delain”
So, you can read in the sheet of Rockshots Records. Surely you can use these two bands as a reference. But Dreams in Fragments does not achieve the genius of Nightwish’s songwriting nor the power or feeling for great melodies of Delain. Certainly “Reflections Of A Nightmare” is not a bad album. But it does not reach the quality of the masterpieces of the mentioned bands. There is simply too little variety in the arrangements of the songs. The outstanding unique feature of the Swiss is probably singer Seraina Schöpfer with her pleasant voice timbre. Nonetheless, fans of Melodic / Symphonic Metal should listen to this album.
Dreams In Fragments – Nightchild (Official Lyric Video): https://youtu.be/r-Gd-Juk_Tc
Lineup:
Seraina Schöpfer – Vocals
Christian Geissmann (Majesty of Silence, Proxima) – Guitars, Growls, Orchestral Arrangements
Jan Thomas (Rainforce, ex-Pÿlon) – Bass
Frank Fritschi – Drums
Label: Rockshots Records
Out: June 28th, 2019
Playing time: 44:01
Track list:
- Everytime
- Nightchild
- The Maze
- Incomplete
- Prologue
- Defy Every Storm
- Falling With A Crown
- Little Red
- In Flames
- Unireverse
Rating 7.5/10
MHF Magazine/Rainer Kerber
