Angel of Light

While most of the time singles tend to plug the most commercially oriented elements of a power metal release, often times they provide a good preview the general tone of the LP it is promoting. In essence, these singles function a bit more like a sneak preview with a sampling of all the key elements that go into said album, while not letting the cat completely out of the bag. By this standard, "Angel Of Light" functions quite efficiently in drawing out all of the catchy yet intricate elements of Dreamtale's longstanding sound, even though it doesn't dwell upon the speed factor the way many fans of the genre would generally like it to.

The title song of this miniature sampling takes the mid-tempo rock path, and comes out sound quite similar to the shorter, radio oriented lead off single off of the previous album "Phoenix" in "Take What The Heavens Create". The production is a bit more bombastic, particularly insofar as the drums are concerned, and there is also a slightly more varied approach to structure; but one can't help but see the parallels in feel between this song and its 2008 predecessor, so much so that one might call this a revised version of the latter. "Reasons Revealed" goes off in a bit more of a ballad direction and is heavily reminiscent of the heavily keyboard oriented character of early 2000s Sonata Arctica. It's a poignant sounding song, and definitely touches the same brilliant sentimentality of the slower works heard on "Silence", though Erkki Seppänen's vocal work is a bit more nuanced and less abrasive.

But the speed addicted power metal enthusiast need not fret, for the closing song "Strangers' Ode" is where things really start to cook. There are a number of older Dreamtale classics that this one could be compared to, most of them found on their 2003 magnum opus "Ocean's Heart", but it definitely has its own defined character and finds itself switching it's feel a bit more often than the simple, symmetrical character of said album. It showcases a band capable of rivaling the virtuosity of fellow Finns Stratovarius, yet also takes care not to dwell too much on outright speed shredding and works in some brilliantly crafted, Helloween-like melodic content amid the blaze of notes. This is definitely one of the better songs to appear on "Epsilon" and one of the better songs to be crafted by this outfit since "Ocean's Heart".

While not really something that is required listening given it contains nothing that can't be heard along with a number of other brilliant songs on "Epsilon", this does demonstrate that Dreamtale has an honest approach to promoting their material, rather than just simply putting out a few really good songs and then releasing a single oriented LP with a bunch of half-assed filler. Some may call this sort of output by the derogatory "pop music" label because of its conventional melodic content and songwriting, but an honest ear will note that unlike a typical pop/rock outfit, this music actually manages to rock.