Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dark Moor's best album, August 16, 2003
By A Customer
What can I say? I love this band!!! Let me tell you about them... They are a power metal band from Spain, but they sing in English, like most heavy metal bands do nowadays. What makes them different from other bands? They had a female lead singer with a very powerful voice. I warn you, you will notice her spanish accent, but I'm sure it won't bother you. Why am I speaking in the past tense? Because, unfortunately, Elisa Martin, the singer, has left the band, along with two other members, and they are now called Dreamaker. Dark Moor has hired a male singer, but neither Dark Moor nor Dreamaker has released an album yet. Their style can be compaired to Rhapsody's, they play epic power metal, with lots of choruses. They don't have many ballads, and my advise on them is to skip them! They are definitely not their strong point.
Now, why do I love this particular album? It starts with "The Ceremony", a great instrumental which introduces us to my favourite song in the whole album: "Somewhere in Dreams". This is such a powerful song, and so different from what I am used to in the power metal scene... Check it out! "Maid of Orleans" and "Bells of Notre Dame" are also great, but the song that follows, "Silver Lake" is awesome! "Mortal Sin" is also nice. Then we have "The Sound of the Blade", the ballad, which as I told you before, is not exactly the best song in the album. Following that we have "Beyond the Fire", I love the way Elisa sings this song... The next song is "Quest for the Eternal Flame", the longest one in the album. This is your typical epic song, with a wonderful chorus. "Hand in hand" is also nice, but doesn't stand out in the album.
This is Dark Moor's second album, and although the third one "The Gates of Oblivion" is perhaps a more mature album, I prefer "Hall of..." The songs are really catchy, and they don't sound repetitive, whereas "The Gates..." may sound boring at first.
I hope you give this album a chance! As you can guess from my review, I highly reccommend it.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A stimulant that Takes Your Breath Away, May 5, 2005
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.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly a Gem, December 6, 2004
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.
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