CoC : Let Me Dream - Medley Rain : Review

Let Me Dream - _Medley Rain_
(Succubus Records, 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo (6 out of 10)

Long gone are the days of this Finnish band's 1995 debut album _My Dear Succubus_ for Adipocere Records. Now, Let Me Dream return with a new MCD and a label of their own. They describe these new songs as a combination of gothic, dark pop and metal; fortunately, however, the obnoxious three-letter word in that recipe isn't too prominent in their music, as this is essentially gothic metal with plenty of keyboards and rather weak guitars. The vocals are semi-operatic, reminding me of a mix of Moonspell's vocalist Fernando Ribeiro's clean vox in _Wolfheart_ with the kind of vocals more frequently found in gothic rock. These vocals take time to get used to, but aren't bad. Although some blackened vocals are also occasionally used, more variety (perhaps some female vox) would have been welcome. The music is reasonably well composed and executed, but not especially captivating; it lacks either more metallic qualities or a more emotional (perhaps more depressive) atmosphere, anything that would make the MCD become more captivating for the listener. As it is, _Medley Rain_ is a reasonably good MCD, although not every choice for their sound was the best possible this time.

Contact: wolfborn@freenet.hut.fi

(article published 1/9/1998)