DIAL: Synchronized

Cover	Release	Style
	2007-04-06	progressive rock (metal)
	Label
	www.progrockrecords.com
	Website
	www.myspace.com/thebanddial
	Contact
	-
	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	52:04	PRR118
	Review by / Translated by	Rating
	Jany / Jennifer	8,5/10
nederlands	Review
In October of 2002, Cirrha Niva performed the opening act for Pain of Salvation during their short European Tour. On the 11^th of October, they both performed at the Biebop. I remember this show very well and noticed that there was something brewing between the bass players of each band J. Love conquers all because Kristoffer Gildenlow left Pain of Salvation and moved to Holland and Liselotte Hegt (who also worked as a critic for Aardschok rock magazine) left her band as well. In the meantime, Kristoffer and Liselotte have married and started their own band, Dial, with Rommert van der Meer, the guitarist from Cirrha Niva. ‘Synchronized’ is their debut CD, with none other than Devon Graves (Dead Soul Tribe and ex-Psychotic Waltz) as producer. Devon sings and plays guitar on “Wish It Away”. If tou are familiar with Dead Soul Tribe, then you will be able to hear some similarities on this album. ‘Synchronized’ is a very varied album. Here’s the summary… “Beautiful” is a very dark sounding song with lots of dragging guitar sounds. Liselotte’s voice fits perfectly in this very strong, and perhaps, best song of the album. You can hear the obvious influences that Kristoffer has inherited from Pain of Salvation in the calmer and more acoustic sounding songs. The approach to the production of the songs is a combination of Dead Soul Tribe and PoS. The compositions are, however, completely different. You don’t find any real PoS or DST songs. There are exceptions though J. “Green Knees” sounds the most like a PoS song because Kristoffer’s vocal timbre is very much like his brother, Daniel. You can immediately hear that Kristoffer is a very good singer. Another exception is “Wish It Away”, where Devon sings. The fans of Psychotic Waltz can be happy about this because this song will remind them of their album back then. And on top of this, there’s a short but very beautiful guitar solo in this song. In general, the songs have a lot of passion and, after a few listening sessions, they really justify themselves. The version of “Jewel”, by Marcella Detroit, is very strong. The mellow passages interchange with heavy guitars. The quality of the guitar parts is very high throughout the entire album and the solos are very well integrated. I find that the Kate Bush-sounding “Candyland” and the extravagant “Wounded” are less successful. The vocal play on “Point of View” is very inventive and will be a treat for the listener. The album ends with “Childhood Dreams”. It starts off very slowly with its four minute intro (and a super solid solo) and evolves into a very beautiful song. With the guidance of the producer, Devon Graves, Kristoffer explores the limits of his singing talents at the end of the song. This is an exceptionally solid combination. ‘Synchronized’ is a fickle album with a lot of growth potential. The not so obvious songs are surprising and are able to throw any superficial listener off course. This CD actually grows into something very interesting after sufficient and attentive listening sessions.
Musicians
Liselotte Hegt: Vocals, Bass, Keyboards Rommert van der Meer: Electric and Acoustic Guitars Kristoffer Gildenlow: Basses, Guitars, Vocals, Keyboards, Double Bass, Cello, Mandolin Extra musicians Dirk Bruinenberg: Drums and Percussion Devon Graves: Vocals, Electric Guitar Eugenia Lackey: Choir
Tracklist
01 Beautiful 05:00 02 Sadness 04:34 03 Jewel 04:30 04 Candyland 03:40 05 Green Knees 05:57 06 Hello 03:56 07 Points Of View 05:37 08 Wish It Away 05:08 09 Wounded 03:12 10 Nature's Cruelty 02:17 11 Childhood Dreams 08:05
Discography


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