Deep Sun
Dreamland - Behind The Shades

The cover art of the third album by Swiss symphonic metallers Deep Sun is really striking, it makes my mind venture into a thought world of imaginations and dreams far from the sombre realities of the world today. But it is not just the artwork as the opening prologue also builds this sensation of an adventure in a dreamland, and I really like that. As a thinker I find that it is easier to take to or write about albums where there is something that makes the mind going, like the great cover of this one. It also reminds me of an album cover for an album I reviewed just recently, where I also pointed out that it is reminiscent of a Star Trek episode – this is not the monstrous kind but if you look closely there are such elements there.

Think Nightwish and their likes if you would like a band to compare with. Singer Debora has a great voice and uses a wide range of it when singing throughout this album, add to that a good production and some fresh thinking and you have a relevant album here. Still, it is hardly one that breaks new ground, a few fresh ideas don’t do that much, and it is hard to really think of them as their own entity rather than just another part of a group of similar bands – they don’t stand out enough to make a big mark. But they do it well to keep away from those annoying long “epic” tracks that tend to ruin many symphonic and epic albums – and they keep the playing time sensible by staying under fifty minutes, good variation also helps in that matter.

It may not be a timeless classic, but it is a great album with great tracks that you can listen to while looking at the artwork dreaming of other places. A while of musical enjoyment. Still, when looking wider it is not really an album that will stand out, there are so many similar albums that are close to equally good, some are better, some were before and will always make a bigger impact. The problem when you do something that isn’t original you will always be behind and can never really measure up to those that came before as those were the ones that made it possible and that will always be more impressive. That is the backside for Deep Sun, I have heard this album before, and granted that it is brilliant, but it doesn’t outdo those past great albums it is derived from.

If you like the symphonic metal it would be a big mistake to miss this album, it is a great symphonic adventure down the rabbit hole. I really like it, and I can recommend it even though I can be critical of the lack of freshness.

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