Dragons Cave-Elektro Motion

Self-produced
2010

Dragon's Cave is a project for Italian guitarist Steve Angarthal who also assumes the vocal duties this time around. This is pure European style melodic metal that's heavy on the guitar solos. To their advantage the timing is spot on, the melodies are ever present and the production is smooth as silk. The solos and fretwork are plentiful of course, but Angarthal manages enough control and skill to work the shredding into the songs for the most part. There are some bits that are too self-indulgent, but I expected that. Overall there is a feeling that even more the involved guitar pathways on this album work towards building up the songs rather than just being their own focus. Mainly the writing and playing is tight and lively enough to maintain my interest. The vocals are not always on because there are spots where the lack of range shows up, but overall not bad. My biggest complaint was that I kept hoping for some real outbursts of energy and there a few sparks, but in many ways the mood stays too cool for me to really get totally excited about. I admire the skill displayed here, but didn't totally get the feeling that the emotional level was as high as the skill level. On a technical level there is much to offer, but not so much beyond that. That's something that may come with time, but emotion is harder to bring across than skill. Dragon's Cave put a great deal into skill more than anything else.