DREAM DEATH RELEASE
posted October 15, 2009
Out Now on Hells Headbangers & NunSlaughter Records:
Short-lived crushing 80's Doom/Death. Members would later move on to Penance, Pentagram (U.S.) & Cathedral. Features the very first DREAM DEATH gig live at the Electric Banana circa 1986 with excellent soundboard quality audio. Songs are mostly from their first demo plus cover tracks of Angelwitch and Celtic Frost exclusive to this live set only. Includes original artwork and ancient unpublished photos from 1986 encased in a factory sealed digipack CD. Running time 44:50. FAN REVIEW OF "Journey Into Mystery"
Long considered one of the underground classics of doom metal, this Pennsylvania band's debut and only album is certainly a weighty and genuinely sinister affair. While not really belonging to the Sabbath school of doom, Dream Death were along with Medieval, Post Mortem and Blood Farmers, part of a school of thought that did not exclude punk snot and venom from the execution of the style. This basically means they have more deliberately rough edges than many in the genre, but also carry an organic feel that rounds out this record greatly. It's a bit disconcerting at first how some of these songs shift passages one to the other within their frameworks, but after a short while the flow of "Back From The Dead" and "Divine In Agony become apparent. "Hear My Screams" dives in with a chugging pace and wonderfully malevolent (though hardly death metal) vocals from guitarist Brian Lawrence, also featuring a nice drum performance from Mike Smail. And man, listen to the distortion oozing from the guitars on "The Elder Race," a slow and crawling number with visions of evil monks and Satanic rites dancing in it's head. This record, despite the fact that far more mature and professional material would come from it's some of it's creators in their future guise as Penance, retains a unique aura and one singular to underground US metal of this era. Thus like Cirith Ungol and Brocas Helm, Dream Death are true cult cave dwellers in the shadows of metal's mainstream presence, too obscure even for many fans who consider their tastes to be subterranean in it's guise.
TRACK LIST:
Back From The Dead
Rhaizes Shadows
Wolves Bane
Under The Blood Red Moon
Method To Madness
Circle Of The Tyrants
Angel Of Death
Sealed In Blood
Dream Death
