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Artist: DOL AMMAD
Album: Ocean Dynamics
Year: 2006
Dol Ammad is the brainchild of composer Thanasis
Lightbridge. According to the professional looking press-sheet,
we should be expecting something really exciting. I
quote: “Mixing elements from the electronic, the
operatic and the heavy metal music worlds, Dol Ammad
have created a new universe of sounds and feelings.”
This band includes a 14 membered choir (seven men and
seven women) and is blessed with the works of (guest?)
musicians Alex Holzwarth (Rhapsody, Sieges Even) and DC
Cooper (Silent Force, Ex-Royal Hunt). A surprise is
awaiting us...
The album kicks off with four concept songs (‘Thalassa
Dominion’). The first part sounds like a beautiful,
spoken-word and classical intro, on which the
introduction for the story has been told accompanied by
beautiful orchestral passages and wave likely surprises.
The second part opens with heavy guitarlines and great
complex drumming. The opera vocals of the choir is
beautifully brought together with the music, and even
sounds great during the more brutal parts. The beautiful
and orchestral keylines are accompanied by gentle wave
and electronic elements, to give the track a bit of a
spacey dimension. The orchestral intermezzo, with a big
wink to stuff like Vangelis, is very beautifully placed,
and the guitarsolo that comes after is perfect. Part
three truely sounds like an intermezzo musically, but it
would be an insult to call it just an intermezzo. We
find some wicked though gentle electronics hidden over
here, as well beautiful keyworks and opera vocal works.
It is like a river inbetween part 2 and 4, that gently
sails you forward until the fourth part starts. Part
four turns out to have a touch of everything. From
sometimes nearly old school black metal passages, it
switches gently and fluently to symphonic progressive
metal stuff and cold key intermezzo’s. The extraordinary
drumming of Alex Holzwarth fits this track excellently.
The diversity that’s used in the electronic sampling and
the vocals is essential in this track.
Next up are the “regular” songs. ‘Solarwinds’ has a
progressive, uptempo touch when it comes to the metal
side, but a cold and spacey touch when it comes to the
orchestral parts. The guitarparts match the fast
drumming excellently, while the electronic intermezzo’s
and the orchestral parts might sound like the opposite
when you seperate them – they all fit together
excellently. ‘Solarwinds’ also contains elements of wave
and future pop, if you listen more closely. ‘Descent’ is
the most experimental track, with a high touch of
electronics. It’s a spoken-word intermezzo, with cold
keylines. The cold and very gentle outro of this track
is flooding over in ‘Lava’ excellently. It opens with
wicked electronic samples, to be soon followed by heavy
guitarwork and even more wicked electronics. The
interaction between the male and female vocals sound
surprisingly tight, with a special mention to the dark
electronic intermezzo. The track ends in a crazy way,
with a mixture of wicked keylines and guitarwork.
‘Aquetic Majesty’ opens very theathrical. The guest
vocals on this track done by DC Cooper sound
surprisingly in the beginning, though they’re very cool.
If it was really necissary, I don’t know, because I’m
glad that he’s only hearable on one track I must admit.
The drumming is complex and diverse, while the beautiful
keylines sail along with the orchestral vocals. ‘Liquid
Desert’ shows some surprisingly powerful drumming and a
full-metal guitarriff in the beginning. Although, the
track is more or less built on the excellent synth works
done by mister Lightbridge. The song switches from
powerful parts to orchestral parts and gentle electronic
works. The album ends with ‘Heart of the Sea’. Its a
very gentle, cold orchestral and atmospheric outro, with
elements of classical music, (dark)wave and extravagant
sampling works.
A 14 membered choir mixed with metal and electronic
stuff doesn´t make music unique. The music itself does
though, and I dare to say that we have found something
totally unique with Dol Ammad... not only unique, also
exceptional. Most tracks are built on a spine of
brilliant keyworks by Thanasis Lightbridge (got to love
that name too), when slightly added gentle and perfectly
fitting electronic works. After, all kinds of different
stuff has been added to the music. I already mentioned
heavy metal, power metal, black metal, wave and future
pop before, and I’d like to add also 80’s house
elements, modern symphonic rock and even a little touch
of jazz here and there to the list. ‘Thalassa Dominion
IV’ is in my opinion the best example of this. Within
just one track, we hear classical music, keyworks, old
school black metal, synth and future pop and 80’s house
and disco elements. The way this many old school
elements sound modern and progressive without bringing
the idea forward of ‘This is not fitting!’ is pure art.
The way ‘Ocean Dynamics’ is produced and mixed is also a
big winner. The album isn’t mixed too loud or too
orchestral, which makes all the different elements come
forward when and where they’re required to. I don’t know
much about technical aspects, but I don’t think it must
have been an easy job to mix and master this record.
This excellent production gives the album a spacey
atmosphere overall (yes, as well in the brutaller
metalparts) which underlines the idea of the concept
inbetween the songs. Furthermore, the different
interaction inbetween the vocal choirs is excellent. No
matter if they sing seperated or together, if they do
lower operetics or higher sopranos, it all floods
together within a gentle, soft and brilliant package.
This is a album that has something fitting for every
single person that considers himself or herself to be
‘alternative’. Also, I think 99% of the students on the
conservatorium should study this CD at least 10 hours a
week, because the incredible compositions and song ideas
isn’t something you could have ever seen or heard
before. ‘Ocean Dymanics’ is the perfect soundtrack for
every beautiful thing nature has created which isn’t
destroyed by humanity yet. A total masterpiece without
any downsides.
In the end, only two questions remain... will they play
live too, and second: when will this album become
platinum?
Vote: 100 / 100
Review by: Gerardo |
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01. Thalassa Dominion I
02. Thalassa Dominion II
03. Thalassa Dominion
III
04. Thalassa Dominion IV
05. Solarwinds
06. Decend
07. Lava
08. Aquatic Majesty
09. Liquid Desert
10. Heart Of The Sea |
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