Dreams Under Ice

The name Torian has become a fairly hot topic in power metal circles of late, largely due to the rave reviews their 2018 smash of an LP God Of Storms, which incorporates a lot of the same influences that has made Orden Ogan one of the premier German bands of the 2010s. A lesser known fact, however, is that Torian is not merely another newcomer riding off the coattails of a more stylized version of Blind Guardian's latter day sound, but a certified veteran act with roots going back more than 15 years to the tail end of the millennial power metal revival. To add further credence to their tenacity and uniqueness amid the crowd, they originally cut their teeth with the support of famed Italian label Underground Symphony, a hub for a lot of the bands to come roaring out of the 90s and also the original label of fellow competitors to Orden Ogan's ascendant crown Ancestral. Thus stands this acts rather impressive yet highly underrated 2005 debut Dreams Under Ice, an album that was arguably born in the wrong era.

Sporting album art like an elemental re-imagining of the struggle between C.S. Lewis created protagonist Aslan and his nemesis The White Witch, this is a collection of larger than life anthems that make no secret of their affinity with the fantastical. Be this as it may, this is not a typical European power metal offering by either the standards of the millennial wave that was heavily focused on a Helloween-inspired template, nor the more AOR-infused variant that began to take over at around the time this was released. Occasionally it bears some similarities to the more retro-80s Manowar tone that marked much of Hammerfall's early material, but truth be told, this is more along the lines of a German band playing USPM after the mold of Jag Panzer and Omen, occasionally veering into power/thrash territory when pushing things into faster territory. This stylistic niche is made even more consistent by featuring a rustic, low-fi production that is fairly typical of an Underground Symphony release (albeit slightly more retro-80s in demeanor than usual) and vocalist Marc Hohlweck could all but be Harry Conklin's long lost son.

In true epic 80s metal fashion, this Teutonic quintet jumps right in with a massive, steel gauntlet dressed fist to the skull of an opener that also bears the band's name. In essence, "Torian" is a classic example of that slow marching metallic anthem format rooted in Sabbath's "Heaven And Hell" that bands like Hammerfall and Dream Evil exploited to masterful effect a few years earlier, only dressed up with some occasional frenetic drumming during the chorus. Curiously enough, this song and the similarly slower paced yet slightly more atmospheric "Leave This World Behind" also contain occasional riffs that sound oddly similar to something Jon Schaffer might have used during Iced Earth's slower offerings. This latent power/thrash tendency becomes even more blatant on faster riff monsters like "Late Revenge" and "Decadence", which could almost be b-sides off the first Demons & Wizards album, although more conventional speed anthems such as "Born To Win" and "Into The Winter" merge this thrashing tendency in the riffs with something closer to an orthodox USPM approach with a more tuneful gang vocals and a slight helping of that partial Helloween-influence to the choral melody.

About the only potential criticism that could be lobbed this album's way is the rough mix of the instruments, most particularly the drum sound, though it's also one of the album's charms. The fairly dry and loud character of Manuel Will's kit, and particularly the popping quality of the snare hits, sounds like a less polished version of what was accomplished on Iced Earth's The Dark Saga, and it tends to work well with the slight thrashing tendency of the arrangement. It clashes a slight bit with Hohlweck's cleaner cut vocal sound, but melds flawlessly with the melodic yet largely percussive riffs. And to be clear, the vast majority of this album has a highly frenetic, riff happy, galloping flavor to it, including the towering epic closing number "Souls Of Fire", clocking in at over 9 minutes and utilizing the guest keyboardist to a large extent to help realize the sort of Iron Maiden-inspired songwriting that often goes into power metal anthems of such lengths. It might come off as a bit unexpected to most who know this band for its more polished and compact style of late, but it's definitely a solid debut in a style that was clearly swimming against the tide at the time.