Album Review: Awake The Dreamer – Damaged Souls

So this is what happens when young people get together and form a metal band these days, everything's a little bit totes emosh. (it stands for totally emotional if you are like me and are over 21) And if you are like me and are over 21, this sort of music, the newer genres like "metalcore", can pass you by.

Lot of people my age don't understand this style of music although we have all heard it before and the marketplace is currently swimming with bands such as Awake the Dreamer. There's definitely a formula to this type of genre, very precise drums, over a very tight bass, with crunching guitar riffs and at times very delicate and intricate soloing. A singer who growls one minute, sings the next and then does a bit of whispering. Throw in a bit of keyboards and sampling and you have yourself a band that can play support too many established artists from the same pool of talent.

Nothing wrong with that if you enjoy this type of music. Plenty of fans have bought Bring Me The Horizon albums and Architects albums. There is definitely a platform for this band to play on with fans who would love to see them and fans who'd buy this album. (maybe not buy, thats what old folk do.. but stream to for sure.)

Inevitably they will have to move on. Awake the Dreamer will have to develop their style to ensure they keep their fans interested. From this base we have a great foundation but what path are they going to decide to walk down. Bring Me The Horizon went for the more commercial route. Architects went for the more detailed and unusual route. Where will Awake the Dreamer find themselves in this oversaturated and overcrowded market place? Could they overload their music with samples as they teased here? Could they strip the music right back and go even heavier? Like lightning, I really can't see it striking twice. I can't see them getting away with this type of album again. It's's good fun, they play really well but like the littlest hobo or the incredible hulk, they have to move on.

Next time, what are they going to produce? Because if they produce a similar set of songs as we hear here, I think they will find themselves in troubled water.

I did hear Korn type influence on the song Red Mist. Will they decide to explore this route. That would certainly hold my interest and I'd be interested in listening to any new material that they produce. Good luck to them in this over crowded marketplace. I hope they find a way through and I hope they develop a style which will give them a unique slant and set them apart from the crowd.