Dream Troll – Realm Of The Tormentor

Dream Troll – Realm Of The Tormentor
Release Date: 2nd July 2021
Label: Self Released
Bandcamp
Genre: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Melodic Metal, 80s.
FFO: Dream Theater, Savatage, The Night Flight Orchestra Judas Priest, Fifth Angel.
Review By: Snidely Whiplash

Alright kiddies, Snidely is back in the ol’ metalepidemic.com review hotseat, and you’re in for a HELL of a ride. Let’s see if we can figure out where this one goes. Hang on tight, and we’ll get there together… maybe.

The review for today is DREAM TROLL. The album is called Realm Of The Tormentor. Let that sink in for a minute. What does it say to you? Can you picture a VENOM or even SLAYER type band? Let’s rock a few song titles: As Death Rains From The Sky, Watch It Burn, The Tormentor. Still feeling that death metal vibe? Thinking of grinding metal riffs, deep and fast tunes that you can barely understand layered over with cookie monster vocals? Yeah me too. Not what happened.

So, let’s figure out what I really did hear. I heard smooth, powerful vocals that reminded me of a few different people. Not one of the ones I’d have pictured in my head when I heard the band name and saw the song titles. I was thinking “What happened here? Did they send this band to the wrong reviewer? Can I be truly fair to this group if I hate that style of music?” The music is riffy and kind of fun actually. I found myself head-banging along and not really paying attention to the lyrics. If I never knew a song title, band name, or single lyric … I’d be like “Wow, this is pretty cool. I might turn up the vocal a tiny bit, and check out the lyrics.” But I listened to the lyrics and they don’t fit the music overall. I mean, I definitely am confused by this band. Oh they kick ass, the bass and drums are tighter than (insert dirty joke here). The guitars rip over the entire thing, the lines are tight, and the vocals solid. Once you understand what he’s singing, and read the title, you kind of shake your head and say “What the!?”

Overall, this is a band that could kick MUCH MORE ass if they changed the band name, and retitled/rewrote the lyrics to some of the songs. Don’t get me wrong. The lyrics aren’t bad, they’re good lyrics overall. They just don’t really fit the mood of the songs they’re in. I’m expecting death metal, which has a totally different energy than what I got. What I got was kick ass, it was just causing my head to want to blow off due to the fit. I know what you’re thinking, “Shut up and review the songs, Snidely. The image and band names aren’t what you’re supposed to be looking at.” That’s where you’re wrong. I look at all of it together, because you do too. When you pick up a CD or hear a band name, you have expectations. When those expectations are subverted, you wonder to what end. Were they subverted because they SHOULD be, as in a twist that fits what you got, or were they twisted because someone has a wrong branding idea. “But Snidely, some bands don’t care about branding!” You’re absolutely right! Those bands don’t send stuff in for any kind of reviews, because they don’t give a crap. Bands that want other people’s opinions DO care. Which is where mean old Snidely comes in. To kick you in the nuts, pull up your pants, and straighten out anything I see that might wreck you. I see this as a huge problem with this band. Musically, they are excellent! Can’t say one bad word about the performances. The top most layer however, doesn’t really fit what they’re doing. This is one troll’s opinion, mind you. It’s worth exactly what you paid for it, but the band did ask. I hope they see this and take it how I mean it as well, as a course correction, not a missile. You guys rock, I just need better information to rock with you.

I’m giving this two different ratings. If the band had a different name, lyrics, and titles I’d give them a 4.5. They Don’t have those things, so I’m giving them a 2.5. To me this made a huge difference in the headspace I needed to get into them. The death metal vibe on the package turned me off from even wanting to listen, but the music is so good, I’m glad I did.

(2.5 / 5)