DREAM EVIL "Children Of The Night" /MCD/

First EP of Swedish Heavy/Power Metal band.
Two full-length albums within barely a just a year, successful tours with bands like Blind Guardian, Masterplan and Kamelot to name a few, nominated to the title "Newcomer of the Year" in many Metal magazines are factors that absolutely speak for themselves and describe the immediate and indisputable success of the first years in the Dream Evil episode.
Dream Evil has had some brilliant moments, and a good deal of it is found on this EP. The songs avoid the hyper speed fury of Rhapsody and Gamma Ray, and stick mostly to conventional structures with a large emphasis on choruses, something not unique to this band and their basic style, but differing in levels of emphasis. The title track “Children of the Night” sounds like a heavier version of the Scorpions classic “Big City Nights”, the lyrics are a cheesy variation on Dio’s poetic approach, but once you’ve heard it you cannot forget it no matter how hard you try. “Dragonheart” is a mid-grade Speed Metal track that probably was a b-side from their debut album, where they sounded the most like a Hammerfall clone. “Betrayed” is a slower heavier number, but still listens somewhat lightly with Niklas vocals still invoking the spirit of Klaus Meine. The acoustic version of “Evilized” is vocally exposed, which works well for this outfit.
If you have to pick up a single release by this band but want to avoid the price of an LP, or you want to spend a little money to find out what you’d be in for with this outfit, this is the album to get. It is a perfectly happy medium between the dragons and magic of their debut and the dark imagery of their follow-up “Evilized”. If you want to skip ahead and get an LP, “Evilized” is the first to get, but this one strongly recommended because “Children of the Night” contains two bonus tracks from the Japanese versions of both “Dragonslayer” and “Evilized”, an acoustic version of the title tune of the latter and finally also a video clip of “Children of the Night” from a gig in Gothenburg in February 2003.
Century Media, 2003 (77522-2). Made in Germany. Although the CD is new and has never been played, there are light shabby on the disc surface.


Tracklist:
1. Children Of The Night 04:19
2. Dragonheart 03:31
3. Betrayed 04:00
4. Evilized 04:54
Total playing time: 16:44