Black Roses

The first album of "The Dogma" is a dark, symphonical and quite diversified album that mostly touches the Power and Symphonic Metal genre with some slightly Gothic influences.

The first track and title song already shows the diversity of the band in one single song. It kicks off with a charismatic drum introduction before straight riffs and orchestral keyboard sounds are added to the track. Then comes the very powerful male singer that has a very melodic but not too high pitched voice and soon performs a tragicallya nd melancholic chorus. The ending of the song finishes with some amazing orchestral violins and a piano, the whole thing underlined by a monk's choral and the powerful male voice. All this fits into five brilliant and epic minutes where other bands need the triple. Now, many listeners will be afraid. Is this another overloaded Italian band with orchestras, choirs, keyboards and stories about knights and dragons? No, it isn't, this band doesn't sound like Rhapsody of Fire or Elvenking or anything you heard from this country, this band rocks in a very diversified way and isn't too kitsch.

With "Ghost of war", there is a much darker, slower and still melodic track on this album with an amazing chorus that you won't get out of your mind. In contrast to this, you get delivered the memorable "Queen of the damned", an up-tempo power metal track where the singer reminds me of the early works of Helloween with Michael Kiske. Just to mention a fourth highlight, there is the closing acoustic ballad "Maryann" with some orchestra, piano and acoustic guitars that is sung in a brilliant way and truly touching without being too pathetic or kitsch.

The Dogma seems to use well known pattern that suggest an exaggerated Power Metal kitsch, but they strangely have the certain special something too sound enjoyable and addicting. I largely prefer this album to the recent material of Rhapsody of Fire, Helloween, Gamma Ray, Edguy, Avantasia and the rest of the European Power Metal clique. And the next albums would show us that the band would even be able to mix hard rock, folk and gothic elements into their sound without sounding artificially flavoured and diversified. This band is suprising and entertaining without being aimless and exaggerated and that's what I truly enjoy about them.

I'm not really a big power metal collector; it's not that I dislike power metal in particular, it's just typically cheaper and easier for me to acquire black/death/doom/grind/what have you than power metal where it seems nigh impossible to get cheap used copies of major works and purchasing new is almost completely out of the question. I stumbled on The Dogma in a lot buy on Ebay; as you could expect, the cover of the album didn't imply a lot of great things about it and my first listen had some trepidation about it. I had my cringe-muscles at the ready.

They need to be primed, you know.

But I was pleasantly surprised! Instead of the awful Tristania-meets-Kaledon shit that I was expecting, this was actually a very good power metal album that borrowed heavily from the Kamelot school of writing but for some reason was a lot more interesting to me than that more popular band ever was. In essence, you could say The Dogma is Kamelot with a lower budget: the production isn't quite as good, there aren't as many layers in the music, etc. However, The Dogma has a gripping quality to their music which tends to elude Kamelot, at least in my opinion; perhaps the more conservative nature of the music's production allows the listener to embrace individual melodies more fully. Who knows.

This is firmly rooted in the Italian power metal tradition: big, epic choruses, relatively simple, pseudo-neoclassical keyboard melodies, guitars holding down root notes for the keys rather than really going off on their own. This is my main point of criticism for this release: I wish the guitars were doing more. Apart from the occasional cock-rock solo, the guitars are just strumming away at various palm-mute patterns and don't really contribute much melodically to the music apart from adding another layer of noise. Come on, be daring, you're not Kaledon! Anyway, this is ultimately a rather minor criticism since the album really does end up being lush enough through the vocals and the keys, but I wish more power metal bands would remember that metal is, you know, guitar music.

Fortunately, despite this intentional oversight, the melodies are very good; sure, they're quite derivative of the overall Italian power sound, but they're effective and extremely memorable. Hell, the opening title track alone is one of the more memorable power metal tracks I've heard in recent memory, particularly when the choirs kick in and there are a few different melodic textures going on at once. It's probably one of the most complex parts on the album and really should define what power metal should sound like. Most of this is a little simpler; vocals lead the music, synths supply the main supporting melody, and guitars try to pretend that they're not associated with metalcore.

The strength of this really rests on its melodic craftsmanship; this isn't extremely technically adept (or at least no more so than any other third-string power metal band), nor are the song structures particularly fascinating, sticking to your basic verse/chorus format. The individual synthlines and vocal melodies, though, are fantastic, and just about every track here has at least one melody line which will stick with you long after listening. I mean, don't get me wrong, the album is piteously cheesy and more than a little generic, but the skillfulness with which these guys write can't be denied.

Really I can't say I LOVE this album as it doesn't have nearly enough blast beats or lyrics about murdering women to be fully to my taste, but it is very good. Since I'm completely ignorant of what power metal is supposed to sound like, I'm going to assume this is an excellent example and that power metal fans (that mystical breed who I haven't actually met in real life) should pick it up.

Now here's just what this sub-genre has been desperately in need of for many years now: something original, fresh and exciting. Good power metal is somewhat of a rarity these days, and for those like me who are fed up with all the clone bands and crave some originality, the situation is even worse. I mean, for example, the latest Heavenly isn't half bad and the Cellador debut does work great as a blast of youth energy, but as has long been the case with this scene overall, there is a very strong reliance on formula and not much willingness to push the envelope and/or do anything out of the ordinary whatsoever. "But hey, who cares, as long as the music sounds great!" - you've probably heard that argument before and in some cases that may indeed be true. However, for some of us at least, it gets to a point where a given style stops being as inherently exciting as it once was. To a point where, if the originality isn't there, an album of said style has to be REALLY damn good to get you all worked up. Well, fortunately for this album, not only is it just that "REALLY" damn good, as I said it actually boasts quite an original sound too.

Slapping the "power metal" brand on this band I'm doing mostly for the sake of convenience, as this is the type of band that doesn't fit squarely into one particular sub-genre. "Symphonic power metal" wouldn't be that far from the truth, I guess, but it also wouldn't do justice to what they've accomplished here: to break away from the traditional boundaries of power metal by successfully incorporating elements from other genres (metal or otherwise), and still retain a coherent and recognizable sound. Rhapsody clones, these guys are not.

First of all, as possibly indicated by the title and (awesome!) cover art, there is a clear element of goth present. The whole album has a very thick and gloomy atmosphere to it, with no "Eagle Fly Free"-styled choruses to be found, and furthermore, every song on here but one sticks to a mid paced tempo. Secondly, and really separating this from both symphonic power metal and gothic metal in general, Black Roses is truly surprising in its emphasis on heavy riffwork. Whereas the guitars in Rhapsody (other than soloing) and Within Temptation often tend to just drone on in the background, The Dogma never forgets about the riffs and fancies filling their songs full of them. It may be the melody and atmosphere that define the songs more than anything else, but the solid riff base underneath does stand out on its own and works excellent as a compliment, making for a very "full" and meaty sound. This album is a bit like Kamelot's rightfully praised 2005 release The Black Halo in that regard, except on here, the riffs are greater in number, thrashier in style and turned up louder in the mix.

Yes, songwriting is top notch. To offer a great deal of variety while at the same time sticking to one certain style and not sound like multiple bands at work, it can often be a difficult balance to keep, but luckily, The Dogma clearly succeeds in this area. There are a few lighter occasions here and there that are not far removed from stuff like The 69 Eyes, or even Depeche Mode, but they're all tastefully interwoven with the heavier stuff and only serve to add flavor and diversity. In addition, there's some electronica-influenced keyboard work featured on a number of songs (the intro track of Pagan's Mind's Celestial Entrance would be a good comparison), creating an interesting contrast to the obviously more classical-influenced symphonic element. One more thing that deserves to be said about this album is that the quality of the choruses is absolutely ridiculously high; every single one stands out in one way or another. Epic, soaring, majestic and truly passionate in their delivery, they sweep you in from first spin and make it easy to remember the songs one by one, because they're just so freakin' catchy and memorable. Damn the man, this album is a winner in pretty much every way imaginable.

Hard as it is to believe that this band hails from Italy, a country notorious for rather generic stuff (not just in power metal), even more puzzling is the fact that this is their fucking DEBUT we have here! With such a unique and ambitious vision in mind, you'd think a band would need a couple of albums or so first to polish and solidify things a little, but not this one. I dunno, maybe they simply opted not to release a full-length until they felt completely satisfied with their sound, but any way you cut it, it's still an impressive feat. Me, I'll eagerly be watching this fantastic young band and can't wait to see where they'll take their sound next. Speaking of which, I found out on their website a few days ago that the follow up is due at the end of this month, completely unaware that they even had a new one on the way. Seems they're not big enough to be picked up by Blabbermouth's radar yet, but we'll just see about that in the future. I'm telling you, this band is onto something.

In conclusion: if Black Roses is not the best album of yesteryear, then The Dogma as a band certainly takes the award for best newcomer. Due to a stagnant scene, I've been falling out of the power metal genre quite a bit over the past year, but a few more bands as simultaneously innovative and downright masterful as this one, and I could easily fall in love with it again. If the band's style seems appealing to you in the least, then for God's sake, check them out if you have any sensibility. Hell, this sort of melancholic-themed stuff normally isn't my thing at all, but it's not like I can't spot the brilliance that is so clearly on display here.

This is the Italians first album since being put together since 1999.

For a power metal band bursting onto the scene, they know how to make a quality album, so maybe it was well worth the 7 year wait.

The best track on this album are Black Roses, Queen of the Damned, Temptation, and Maryanne

Black Roses is a very well thought put opening track, it shows the more symphonic side of this band. But not the lame keyboard packed tracks you would think. This band actually went out to hire a string, and voice choir, and it shines through on this song. At the 2:08 mark is when out first solo comes in, and it really is the most impressive on the disc. Complex, fast, tempo changed, very well played. Right after is our first taste of the string and voice choir. This truly does make or break the song for some. With the precision and grace accomplished it makes this song, and cd. Once the strings kick in they are present throughout the rest of the song, while it closes in a most epic way.

Queen of the Damned is the best song on the cd. The beginning is a slight rumble, straight to the best guitar riff on the cd, and a striking string section. While the up-tempo guitars and double bass pound away you can still hear the strings in the background, brilliant. The chorus hit you like a ton of bricks. It stays in your head well after the song is over and urges you to go back just to hear how well it was done. Once again the strings are a strong present, although this song does not use as much of the choir as Black Roses is does have hints of it hear and there, and it really makes the song just that much better. While this solo doesn’t impress as much as Black Roses it does offer a nice mix of the keys and guitar, as soon as one goes off the other comes on trying to do better than the passage before it.
Once the guitars finally drown out the keys, it’s a short pre chorus that drives right through you. The double bass combined with very well done vocals carry into the final 30 seconds that, once again, sound epic and carry a great presence. The Dogma mastered closing a song on their debut album.

Temptations starts out with a well done keys and guitar intro. This song is probably the best combination of all the tracks. Soaring vocals, beautiful keys and strings, top-notch guitar work. This song is the second longest on the cd and has many tempo changes along with a passage by a female vocalist who could be a soprano for a female opera singer. Its very classy, touching and really carries you into the solo right afterwards. Needless to say the solo is amazing. From lightning speed to a slow, almost, depressing style. This song screams The Dogma in every way.

Maryanne can easily go as one of the best metal ballads ever. This song carries depth, emotion, drive, I could go on forever. This song in particular, being a ballad, is all acoustic guitar, choir, and strings. The string section they hired really shines through on this song where they are featured center stage. As with most ballads there is a piano as well. Now I understand after reading acoustic, strings, piano you're thinking this is your everyday ballad. This is not so true. The Dogma manages to make every second of this song stick with you. Next to Queen of the Damned this is my personal second favorite on this disc. Its emotional and very well done from vocals to piano there is not a dull moment in this song. At the 3:30 mark a string solo comes in! That’s right violins dominate a metal for nearly a full minute. Once the vocals come back in this song only gets deeper into your head. Everything about this song is beautiful. Very recommended for people who do like ballads, and for a new look at ballads

The only complaint I have with this cd are some of the solos tend to sound the same, and some of the keys get lame at times. But who can complain about a debut album of this caliber? This will easily get best debut album of 2006, congrats to these guys from Italy; we can only expect great things from here on out.