Journey into Mystery

“Welcome to my funeral my family and my friends. I hope you’ve enjoyed the living me because the dead one never ends…"

Dream Death’s first record appearance, I believe, was the Speed Metal Hell Vol. 3 compilation from New Renaissance with “Method to Madness”, one of their livelier, rapid tunes that unfortunately was so underproduced it sounded as though it were recorded through a wet sock. The song, now dubbed “Hear My Screams”, would be resurrected for Journey Into Mystery, their sole lp (at this time).

Thankfully sporting a better production (difficult to get worse), Journey... is perched primarily in the doom realm without venturing into the painfully-elongated-song territory where bands like Disembowelment and Esoteric dwell. The Pennsylvania band’s mostly lethargic sound may sound dated now, but with acts such as Pentagram, Trouble, St. Vitus, and to a diverse extent, Celtic Frost already plodding along, then in light of the doom uprising of the early ‘90s with Anathema and My Dying Bride, DD were probably right on target time-wise with their sound. Obviously, DD’s churning riffs are a prime component, and the bursts of mid-paced speed that erupt now and then don’t hurt their direction, but more of a draw (for me, anyway) is the masculine and hefty vox of Brian Lawrence; a commanding set of pipes easily distinguishable even on early Penance releases.

“Back From The Dead”, one of their quicker and best numbers, plows forward with salient rhythms that coalesce into a cool dual velocity chorus, meanwhile “The Elder Race” is drenched in slow, deliberate heaviness that hardly switches a gear. As a follow up, “Bitterness and Hatred” possesses a gait that rides the center lane compared to its precursors, bounding in and out of either dominion for a memorable third track. Closing side one is “Black Edifice”, an ominously touched brute that begins to expound on Lawrence’s building vocal vehemence.

The outstanding “Divine in Agony” unfurls possibly over a half dozen initiated rhythms in its lifespan, complete with timing and structural shifts that keep the vocals on panting alert. Footnote this as a top track. As in the original, “Hear My Screams” (a.k.a. “Method to Madness”) reaches its zenith with the mounting chorus, meanwhile a lead quilt lays on much of “Sealed in Blood”, slow-stepped and lurching as momentum gasps for air through small spaces in the weave. The final song, “Dream Death”, is perhaps the least interesting song featured, mainly due to its slapdash chorus weighing down the rest of the track like the last guy dangling on the end of the rope full of mountain climbers.

Okay, while Dream Death didn’t exactly have people mowing down pedestrians on their way to the record store, there is a surprising amount of people who not only have heard of this four-piece, but either already own this disk, are currently in search of it, or just heard it for the first time and asked the fateful words “dude, did this come out on cd?” That answer is yes, and it is worth the extra buck or two you may pay for it.

"...come to me, sweet child. Feel my touch. Taste my blood..."