When you go to Dol Ammad's web site, the first thing you see is the picture
of the choir - and there's a good reason for that. This music is practically
defined by the huge sounds contributed by the the 12-piece choir. In fact -
everything is big on Star Tales. The church organs and the thunderstorms
in "Birth of Kruug" the aggressive drumming on most tracks, the spacey effects
layered over multi-textured keyboards, and ... the choirs. Very ambitious.
It's probably fair to describe Star Tales as an intersection of
symphonic metal, classical and electronica. That's an unusual mix, but think of
a lighter version of Rhapsody or Therion with a lot of new wave influences. Just
as some bands call their music "Hollywood metal" or "Film Metal", Doll Ammad
describes their sound as "Electronica Art Metal" - and we might call it
"Semi-Progressive Soundtrack Metal". But labels aside, it doesn't sound
like any metal you've heard before - in fact even the word 'metal' should be
taken lightly.
Dol Ammad lacks a lead singer, and there isn't much emotion to be found here,
so their music is all about the instrumentation and the new-agey vibe and the
big sounds of sampled orchestration. In fact it's easy to think of it a purely
instrumental piece because the operatic voices of those six guys and six girls
contribute sound and texture rather than 'song', in the traditional sense. A
standout track is the 4-minute "Back to the Zone", possibly because it is the
most classically oriented piece, and the choirs are particularly well applied in
the 2-part "Boxed Daylight" tracks. Star Tales fits just as well into the
background while you're working, as it does in the foreground under a good set
of headphones.
Principally a project of Greek keyboardist Thanassis Lightbridge, Dol
Ammand's debut album is 12 songs and 62 minutes of lush, elegant soundscapes.
Think Vangellis meets Rhapsody, but hires a choir to do the singing - and note
with interest that the inspired drumming is courtesy of Alex Holzwarth, from
Sieges Even and Rhapsody. Production is rather good, although you get the
impression they were trying to hide the guitarist's contribution because on the
relatively rare occasions it is featured, it's way back in the mix.
Without the choir this would be an interesting CD that may or may not catch
your attention. But with the choir the music takes on epic qualities and
is elevated to a higher level.
Track Listing:
01. Dreamport
02. Eclipse (Corona Of The Sun)
03. Weaver's Dance
04. Boxed Daylight Part 1
05. Boxed Daylight Part 2
06. The Veil (Seven Face Danger)
07. Back to the Zone
08. Master of All
09. The Hill of Hope
10. Kruug
11. Vortex 3003
12. Mission Butterfly
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