I find Russian metal scene to be very interesting, and I've firmly decided to discover it more profoundly than before. Of course, that means I'll have to dig some obscure and unknown (even in Russia) bands, but I'm okay with that, I love new experiences and music. The easiest way is to seek latest albums, and luckily, I know an excellent Russian site that informs me regularly about all news and releases.

That's how I ended up with Amalgama's sophomore effort, the album called ''Dream''. This band in particular isn't by any means unknown in Russia, it has a lot of fans, who absolutely loved this album. But I didn't care about that at all, since fanboys love anything related to their favourite band, so I had to see it for myself.

First, as I always do when writing about not so well-known bands, I'm gonna describe Amalgama's way of musical expression (how posh this sounds). Amalgama is a heavy/power metal band, with strong hard rock and modern metal influences. The hard rock influences reflect in vocalist's (Vlad ''Graf'' Ivoylov) singing and vocal lines, since his voice reminds me strongly of Zvonko ''?ipi'' Pantovi?, the leader of Serbian glam metal band Osvaja?i (once hugely popular in Yugoslavia). Graf's voice is very unique, since for the most of the time it sounds dreamy, almost sleepy. However, when he goes for high notes, it's just stunning how clean and powerful is his singing in high register. He is definitely the key factor in Amalgama, since no other band member stands out that much in his playing. That is a direct consequence of this modern side of Amalgama's music. Musical-wise, Amalgama plays straight-forward heavy metal, with simplistic riffs, and the downtuning make it sounds very modern (read groove and mallcore influenced). However, Amalgama never descends into mallcore territory, although dangling dangerously close several times (especially in ''Wake Up Again''). One more thing - most of the modern bands I listen to try to resemble or at least have something in their music which can be directly associated to '80s metal. Amalgama doesn't - the year is 2012, and these guys are telling you: ''Live now, stop thinking about the past''. So if you hate every metal that wasn't written in the '80s (and I know that kind of freaks), stop reading and go somewhere else. You won't find anything here for you.

So how does work this unusual combination of past and present, personified in Amalgama? Surprisingly well, I must say. When they're in top shape, they sound convincing, refreshing and irresistibly charming. Just perfect if you got brainwashed from stereotypical generic power metal, which occupies today's European metal scene. The songs like ''Dream'', ''Live and Remember'', ''The Night is Tender'' and ''Believe in Love'' are all brilliant gems that show you all virtues of Amalgama. They're perfect from the start to ending, which will prove to be one thing the other songs don't have. The only flaw of this album lies in this - a good amount of songs have one specific aspect in it that can called filler - the main riff, bridge, chorus, whatever. You're probably confused now, so here's the deal: the ballad ''Why'' has a great beginning acoustic riff and build-up, but the chorus is dead boring and uninspired. Same thing with ''Your Opinion'' - it starts as a speed metal monster, but who the fuck thought that a quasi-progressive chorus would suit the song? It practically ruins it. ''Kings of Sky'', on the other hand, has a brilliant, ''Aces High''-reminiscing chorus, but the verses are just bland. I could go on and on, but you get the point. This is one awkward situation, because never before I listened to so many songs on one single album in whom brilliant and pitiful parts go side by side. The good consequence of this is that there are no total fillers on this album, and the bad is that you just can't totally enjoy it. Oh yeah, the bonus tracks are great - Oleg Zhilyakov (Catharsis) makes a great guest appearance on ''Dream'', Artur Berkut makes ''Why?'' a tad better, and the cover of Aria's famous piece ''Angel Dust'' is awesome. Check out how this song sounds in a modern arrangement.

Call me a masochist, but I still enjoyed this album very much. Despite some very obvious facepalming parts, I wasn't bored one single second, what's more, I had a great time listening to ''Dream'', and that's what really counts in the end, doesn't it? This album could be an excellent indicator to Amalgama what they should and shouldn't do in the future. A little more focus would give astonishing results. All pieces are there, just waiting to be sorted. I'm holding my fingers crossed for Amalgama's next efforts, that's for sure!

01. dream
02. Live and Remember
03. wake up again
04. Why?
05. Kings Of Sky
06. Make It Happen
07. tender Is the Night
08. Believe in Love
09. your opinion

Bonus Tracks:
10. Dream (Feat. Oleg Zhilyakov) [224 Kbps]
11. Why? (Feat. Arthur Berkut) [224 Kbps]
12. Angel Dust (Aria Cover)

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