Hall of the Olden Dreams [Import]

Hall of the Olden Dreams [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
2001 release for Spanish power metal virtuosos. 10 tracks including 'The Ceremony', 'Mortal Sin', & 'Hand In Hand'. Arise Records.

Tracks:

The Ceremony
Somewhere In Dreams
Maid Of Orleans
Bells Of Notre Dame
Silver Lake
Mortal Sin
The Sound Of The Blade
Beyond The Fire
Quest For The Eternal Fame
Hand In Hand

Customer Reviews:

Quite the unique melodic metal band with female vocals.......2004-01-26

Dark Moor is a great Italian band. Elisa brings forth a female voice like you've never heard. She's not operatic like Tarja of Nightwish and not angelic like Sabine of Edenbridge. Instead, she's just flat out good. She isn't like Power Symphony's vocalist, either. Dark Moor uses a lot of choirs.

There are no epics on this CD and the first track is a short intro. For those of you into beauty in a very soft form, "The Sound of the Blade" is perhaps the most beautiful song out there. I love quite a few other ballads more, but the pianos, choirs, and synthesizers/keyboards make this song AMAZING. Too bad its track 7 and you can't listen to a sample... Take my word for it - do you like Season of Change? Do you like Don't You Cry? Do you like Lamento Eroico? Then you'll love this one.

Speed is one of the harder things to explain with Dark Moor. Recall the opening song on "A Time Nevercome" by Secret Sphere if you've heard of it. Remember how the speed is constantly changing? That's what Dark Moor sounds like most of the time. They can go from super fast drums with a super fast bass to mid-tempo just like that with perfect transition. One time, I came up with a great thing to say about Dark Moor. It was to say that Dark Moor is Kenziner + someone. I can't remember who, but I guess if you like Kenziner, you should like Dark Moor.

Overall, the sound of Dark Moor is quite beautiful. Keyboards are all over their sound. On their newer CD, Between Light and Darkness, the first 3 tracks are like all acoustic or something, and there is almost no bass sound. Track 4, "The Echoes of the Sea", is an instrumental song that I don't know how to describe yet. Its not all that atmospheric. Its almost newage sounding. Tracks 5-8 are more like what you hear on tracks 2-6 and 8-10 on this album (7 is the ballad discussed above). Tracks 7 and 8 total for about 20 minutes. Also, Dark Moor is the band who did a cover of Helloween's Halloween, found on the CD Keeper of Jericho. Good luck finding that CD for less than $35.00... The original is on Keeper... Part I.

There's a lot to say about a band like Dark Moor. They can closely be compared to Secret Sphere, only with a female vocalist. That's really all there is to say unless you wanted a track-by-track explanation. When you get the time, please go read some of my other reviews and say if they were helpful to you or not.

A great power metal buy........2003-02-13

All I have to say is Children of Bodom meets Rhapsody. This album had enchanting melodies, excellent guitars, and amazing keyboards. I also recomend it if you are annoyed by the overly powerful voices like those of Rhapsody.

decent effort.......2003-01-06

This is good ol' 80s power metal, crisp and clean as it comes, with some nice strong vocal work by Elisa (no last name). Nothing groundbreaking, but a solid effort nonetheless, and a CD that I enjoy listening to on an occasional basis. If I came across something else by them, I'd certainly check it out.

Impressed.......2002-10-27

I have to agree with Patrick - this is one of the best symphonic metal CDs that I have - the music is great - and has good variation - not just the same stuff over again - a bit af clasical influence here and there. My favourite track is "Quest for the eternal flame" and "Notre Dame". If you liked "Stormbringer Ruler" by Domine and "Luca Turilli"'s "King of the Nordic Twillight" - you will like this one a lot. If you want to buy a Dark Moor CD - buy this one

A subjective critic.......2001-12-08

Impressive at first, but I use to get bored at the second listenning. Technicaly, there isn't any sign of weekness, guitar and keyboard are impressive. SilverLake and Somewhere in dream are my favorite songs. But I get bored of the voice of Elisa (too much acute). If you like that type of music, i would recommend to look at Rhapsody.

Average customer rating:

Leaves You Wanting Moor
by far the best of the Rhapsody imitations
Good album but not one of the best
A stimulant that Takes Your Breath Away
Truly a Gem

The Hall of the Olden Dreams
Dark Moor
Manufacturer: Spv Germany
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Gates of Oblivion
Dust to Dust
Eternity
Hastings 1066
Stream of Consciousness

ASIN: B000056IKA
Release Date: 2006-11-27

Tracks:

The Ceremony
Somewhere In Dreams
Maid Of Orleans
Bells Of Notre Dame
Silver Lake
Mortal Sin
The Sound Of The Blade
Beyond The Fire
Quest For The Eternal Fame
Hand In Hand

Album Description

2001 release for Spanish power metal virtuosos. 10 tracks including 'The Ceremony', 'Mortal Sin', & 'Hand In Hand'. Arise Records.

Customer Reviews:

Leaves You Wanting Moor.......2007-02-07

If you're a fan of European power metal with lots of smphonic touches akin to the first Rhapsody album, this is one for you to check out. The female singer isn't stellar, but she's not terrible either, and she isn't trying to sound like singers from other female-fronted bands such as Nightwish, Epica, etc. My main complaint about this album would be that the songs sound very much alike; some more variatoin in the songwriting would help the tunes stand out more, rather than running together. Still a solid album overall; I plan to check out more of their catalog when I have the chance.
Do note that more recent albums feature a different singer 9and several other lineup changes too). Some folks seem to like the new lineup just fine, while others think the band went downhill after the change. I can't say, having not heard the newer material

by far the best of the Rhapsody imitations.......2006-08-22

I love old Rhapsody, so I have spent a lot of time and money tracking down bands that are in that same genre of symphonic fantasy metal. Dark Moor is far and away the best of these.

The songwriting is excellent: the lyrics probably better overall than Rhapsody (which admittedly isn't saying much), and the symphonic compostions and interludes are superb.

Musically Dark Moor is, to my ears, a clone of Rhapsody, right down to the guitar tone, except for one thing: the use of a female vocalist. She is the sole weakness of this band. While she is much better than the awful Nightwish type of wailing wench (that is, the cold-fish opera singer who just walks through it using technique, hitting the notes without actually trying to breathe any life into the lyrics), the singer here is just too erratic. Her sense of pitch is fallible and at a couple of points, she is singing out of time and out of tune, which is just inexcusable. The explanation for why these parts were not re-recorded on such a well-produced recording would likely be that she wasn't capable of doing any better. The effect of hearing this great band and this great material fronted by this amateurish wailer is strange, to say the least -- like a bad paint job on a brand new car, or discovering a hair in what was, up to that point, the best bowl of soup you'd ever had...without her, this would be a five-star album all the way, and fully up to the level of Rhapsody themselves.

However, there is good news: she left the band some time ago and they evidently got a real singer...but in the meanwhile check this album out. The singer sings like she means it, at least, and as erratic as she is, she doesn't kill the album. This is such strong work you could pull somebody off the street at random to do the vocals and it wouldn't kill it (unless he or she was a black or death metal vocalist, or a rapper, or something. Yuck!).

Good album but not one of the best.......2005-05-27

This band rules! Full of virtuosity!
Every track has its own magic. It could be better but it's really good.
In case that you don't know this genre try the "...Oblivion" album, that one is almost perfect.

A stimulant that Takes Your Breath Away.......2005-05-05

If this CD became embedded in my car stereo, I would probably not bother to have it forcibly removed for quite a while. This is a classic: I venture to say that it will still be seen decades from now as a masterpiece.

'Hall of the Olden Dreams' exhibits a tremendous improvement from their debut Shadowland, which unfortunately has been described elsewhere in at least one review as "deplorable." That critique is harsh; rather, I consider Shadowland to be a document showcasing the creativity of a band destined to blossom into one of the finest metal acts so far this century.
With 'Hall' we notice that Elisa has either improved her singing skills or that the mixing has smoothed the edges of her vocals. Really, Elisa is what (who) ultimately makes Dark Moor rise above. While not displaying the seductive qualities / operatic voice of Tarja T. [Nightwish], there is nonetheless something extremely intoxicating about Elisa's powerful vocals.
The lyrics are a little bit funny translation-wise, but I give the band credit for their attempts -- hey, I certainly can't write original lyrics in Spanish! (There is nothing more pathetic than an American metalhead complaining about the heavy accent of foreign singers).

Most of the tracks exhibit a certain mastery of music (at least evident in the keyboards) that is realized more fully in their 3rd album, 'Gates of Oblivion.' It seems that most critics prefer 'Gates' over 'Hall,' but 'Hall' is the disc that I keep returning to. The songs on their 2nd album are not marred by unrestrained double bass drums -- a shortcoming of their 3rd album.
Simply put, the 2nd album is catchier. I feel that "Silver Lake" is the highlight of the album, along with the closing track (classical scales abound). These two songs especially are breathtaking, leaving the listener with a distinct impression of genius in composition.

Truly a Gem .......2004-12-07

Yet a nother 5 /5 rating for Dark Moor. I first heard these guys like in...March I think it was and I could not stop saying "WOW" I heard the short clips Amazon offers to listen to and I had to buy it. This is yet a nother gem I bought on a hunch and I have to say I would be les of a metal fan with out this album. I am a Huge fan of Adagio, Blind guardian Rhapsody and Heavenly. This album has the most of B.G., and Rhapsody . Songs to anticipate when you order are The Bells of Notre Dame, Beyond the fire, and Somewhere in Dreams. There is no question that any one a fan of good clean power metal needs to buy this one, and so does every one else. And any one not familiar to this band they have a woman singer! Though she's not as beautiful of a voice as Tarja from nightwish she's still good, I'd say she's like a girl Hansi (If I can say that) from B.G. So go out and get this one you'll love it.

Music Track:

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