Lucid Dreams-Build And Destroy

Red Ball Productions
2015

What's this we have here? A new album from Oslo metal band Lucid Dreams? Well thank you God above for this metallic blessing! With Thanksgiving only a few days away it looks as if I will have plenty to be thankful for this year! Oops, wait just a minute. Does anyone out there besides me remember this classy (and yet criminally underrated) Norwegian band? Yes? No? I'm hoping it's the former, but just in case let's set the stage for "Build And Destroy". It was back in late November of 2013 that I reviewed the self-titled debut album from this fucking skilled hard & heavy/melodic metal group. As you can see here I flat out loved that album! I still do!! That release, which eventually made it's way onto my 55 best albums of 2013 list (and for good reason as it took it's cue from everyone from Bon Jovi and Whitesnake to Dio & Iron Maiden!), made me a instant fan of Lucid Dreams and it eventually lead me to interviewing the group. That memorable album also made me appreciate melodic metal all the more and over the past two or so years I've honestly been wondering when we would hear from this lot again again. A few weeks back I got my answer. First it was in the form of some cool mp3s and then one day out of the blue a signed CD showed up. I'd feel like a creep if I didn't thank the band for both versions of their sophomore album, but rest assured as neither one had any bearing whatsoever as to how I feel about "Build And Destroy". As to why it's taken me so long to get this review? The short answer is life. My life has become far too complicated and busy and it's become more of a challenge to carve out time for this blog. With that said, "Build And Destroy" is too good to to be kept all to myself so I all but have to share the news of this album with all of you. Especially as it is so well-written and every bit as damn good as "Lucid Dreams" is! If only all sophomore albums were this great! I mean how many times have you found yourself loving a group's debut album only for their second release to be pure garbage? Black Tide anyone? How about Stranger? Perhaps even Praying Mantis? All three of the bands issued follow-up albums that were nothing compared to their debuts. Talk about sad second albums! But I digress. Let's talk about the album's technical aspects and then we can get on to the overall sound of "Build And Destroy". This eight song release (which was actually unveiled at the beginning of last October) was produced by one of the band's two guitarists, Rune Gutuen (with Henrik Antonsson serving as the group's other guitarist), and mixed and mastered by Fredrik Nordström at Studio Fredman in Sweden. Compared to the band's self-titled debut this release is about 10 minutes shorter, but at around 37 minutes in length it's still a solid enough amount of material to digest. From a production standpoint Lucid Dream's second album sounds impressively smooth even as it retains a familiar & well loved metal edge. Of the eight numbers on "Build And Destroy" (of which there are no duds!) the shortest one would be "Fear No Evil" (a memorable cut that forges 80's melodic metal with catchy hard rock!) at 3:43 while the longest song is the Queensrÿche-infused "Absence Of Innocence" with it's run-time of 6:36. Incidentally these two numbers are tracks 3 and 4 respectively with the melodic metal masterpiece "Wings Of the Night" serving as the disc's opener and "Eye Of The Storm" (a melodic metal take on Iron Maiden!) closing things out. With a two year gap in-between albums it's of little wonder how tight each of the individual tracks are. From both a performance stand-point and actual song construction that is. Just like on their 2013 debut the musicianship and the songwriting on Lucid Dreams' latest release is second to none. The same goes for the vocal work of Fredrik Sindsen (aka Freddy Vain). Once again Fredrik Sindsen (formerly of heavy metal/hard rock band Trendkiller) moves effortlessly between killer hard rock cuts ("Hellbound" anyone?) and the heavier stuff ("High Heeled Devil" and "Shanghai Cyanide") and he helps add a grandiose vibe to what is already a fantastic metal release! "Build And Destroy" is not only a memorable and downright catchy album, but it's energetic and driven by the same kind of sensational solos that used to be so prevalent back in the heyday of hard rock and melodic metal. Keyboard arrangements come courtesy of  Thorleif Østmoe and he is spot on yet again. For once we find a band that is capable of enhancing the music with such things without ruining the overall metal aspect that really helps drives albums like this. And here's the thing. Lucid Dreams new album "Build And Destroy" is as metal as it gets! In fact Lucid Dreams second album might even be heavier than their first one! Sure enough these Norwegian hard & heavy rockers still pull a part of their sound and style from lighter acts such as Whitesnake and there is the same kind of (early) Queensrÿche/Dream Theatre progressive metal here that I enjoyed on their first disc. But here's the real kicker folks. In addition to the hard rock, melodic metal and progressive metal there is some riff-dropping heavy metal goodness to be found on "Build And Destroy"! Usually it takes the form of Iron Maiden-like metal and I still hear some Dio and 80's-era Judas Priest sneaking in. Thankfully though Lucid Dreams part 2 (aka this eight-track must own CD!) works in homages to early Def Leppard, Dokken, and even Europe's undervalued self-titled album! Lucid Dreams are still kings at taking hard rock, melodic metal and the like and jamming in sharp guitar solos and sweeping arrangements! In other words "Build And Destroy" is just like it's predecessor in that it's all things hard rock. melodic metal, progressive metal, and heavy metal as envisioned by a exceptionally talented band! One has to think that sooner or later the world is going to catch on to just how good this band is. With albums like this how could they not?   

Interview with Lucid Dream

Recently I had the pleasure of talking with Norwegian hard rock/heavy metal band Lucid Dreams. The band recently released their excellent self-titled debut album (which you can read about below) and I would highly recommended it to anyone who loves top notch hard rock and melodic heavy metal! 

Andy-First off I just want to thank you for setting up the time to do this interview. How are things going for you gentlemen these days?

Lucid Dreams-Things are going well at the moment. We are pleased that our self- titled debut album Lucid Dreams finally was released in November 2013. It has been a long process writing, recording and mixing, and it is feels  good to now see and hear the final result.

Andy-How has the reception been for your new album? I would assume that it's a hit in your home country right?

Lucid Dreams-Yes, the reception has been very good. Both critics and fans seem to enjoy the songs and the fact that there is a lot of variety on the album. Different people seem to have different favourite tracks, and we are pleased that the album can have such a broad appeal.  

Andy-Could you give us a brief rundown on how Lucid Dreams came together.

Lucid Dreams-Back in 2007 guitar player Rune Hagen, drummer Rune Gutuen and former guitar player Silvester Pozarnic came together and started the band, then came bass player Jan Erik Lysø and Henrik Manfredo on the vocals.  Some of the guys already knew each other from earlier days, and some even from school days, growing up not far from each other in Oslo. The band started jamming and writing songs, did some gigs, and started to attract attention. Then after a while the band wanted to expand their musical possibilities, and at the same time by coincidence Rune Hagen got to know keyboard player Thorleif Østmoe. He joined the band, and the songs were slightly re-arranged to give space to the keyboards. After some gigs Pozarnik wanted to step back, and was replaced by new guitar player Ådne Brandås. His playing style and approach is slightly different to the style of Rune Gutuens, so they are a great match. Some more gigs later Fredrik Sindsen aka. Freddy Vain replaced Manfredo on vocals. Fredrik has a classic powerful metal voice and the band is now more complete than ever.        

Andy-I must say that there is a hell of a lot of musical experience between all of you guys. From the sounds of it Lucid Dreams wasn't the first hit band for some of you correct?


Lucid Dreams-That is correct, Andy. The band members have been involved in numbers of band through the years, some more and some less famous. Panama, Trendkiller and Hush may be some of the more known bands, at least in Norway.  Rune Hagen's band Panama had a hit song years ago  called "Keep On Loving You", and Panama toured the country with among others Swedish band Europe.

  
Andy-How did the name come about?

Lucid Dreams-One of the guys had a weird dream, and refused to get out of bed before he got to the end of the dream. He later wanted to interpret the dream, and was introduced to the kind of dreams called Lucid Dreams. In a Lucid Dream you are dreaming but still kind of awake and aware that you are in a dream.. and you are able to control your actions in the dream..We thought it was a cool name for a band.

Andy-Your self-titled debut album offers the listener tons of variety. As members and as a band who has influenced you?

Lucid Dreams-I guess we all have some favourites from the classic hard rock bands of the 80s like Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Dio, Judas Priest, Van Halen, Malmsteen and so on. And at the same time we are influenced by bands like Dream Theater and Pagans Mind (Norwegian) who play a more prog influenced kind of style.Guitar player Rune Gutuen's all time favourite is probably Eddie Van Halen, while he is also into more heavy stuff like Annihilator and of course guys like Stevie Vai.  Ådne Brandaas loves Malmsteen but also listens to gypsy jazz. Thorleif Østmoe is like most hard rock keyboard players in some way inspired by Jon Lord. Singer Fredrik Sindsen got his earliest inspiration from The King of Rock n Roll, Elvis Presley.     

Andy-Any favorite tracks off of the new disc?


Lucid Dream-"Stormy" is definitely one of our favourites . It has many different parts and lots of energy. Strong vocal parts, great solos, some odd rhythm parts, and it is fun to play. "Daisy Duke"s is also great, since it's so catchy it is always fun to play live. "For Your Love" is also one of our favorites.

Andy-Where do you guys go from here? Touring in your home country?


Lucid Dreams-Yes, at the moment we are booking tour dates in Norway for 2014. We are also discussing gigs in other parts of Europe, so it will probably be an exciting year for the band. At the same time we are working on some new tracks that hopefully will end up on our next album   

Andy-How can our readers get a copy of "Lucid Dreams" for themselves?

Lucid Dreams-The easiest way it so get the CD is to send an email to album@luciddreamsband.com

Andy-And if people wanted to find out more about Lucid Dreams in general where should they go first?

Lucid Dreams-The best way to find out more is here:

http://luciddreamsband.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LucidDreamsRocks

Andy-As I always like to give bands the last word I will give you free reign on the mic. Anything you'd like to share?

Lucid Dreams-Well, we just wanna say a big thank you to all of our fans and friends who have supported us, and to everyone who helps us getting the music out to new listeners !!

And  to all the talented bands and musicians out there working hard for the music they believe in, we wish you all success !! And hopefully we see you all somewhere on the road next year.    

http://metalmark.blogspot.com/2013/11/lucid-dreams-lucid-dreams.html

Lucid Dreams-Lucid Dreams

Rockworks Records
2013

Lucid Dreams, who hail from Oslo, Norway, just recently released this, their self-titled debut CD. Formed in 2007 by Silvester Pozarnik, Rune Hagen and Rune Gutuen (the album's engineer and producer), this 12-track album showcases a band that has managed to fuse AOR, hard rock, heavy metal and progressive metal together into something special all while basking in the glory of pure rock and roll! Sounds weird right? Almost like there is no way in the world it would work or that this six-piece band would be capable of pulling it off. And yet here I am playing witness to a band that echos everyone from Whitesnake (thanks to the sometimes quite slick lead vocals ex-Trendkiller/ex-Mudslide member Freddy Vain-try on "Daisy Dukes" and you'll hear it for yourself!) and Bon Jovi to Dio, Queensrÿche, Dream Theatre, (early) Steeler and even Saxon! In a way Lucid Dreams reminds me of a more flushed-out, progressive metal-minded version of Italy's Dangerzone. And that's a very good thing indeed. While Freddy Vain can pull off a number like "Daisy Dukes" he also can pull off a number like "Stormy" which requires him to channel the spirit of the late great Ronnie James Dio! Such range allows Lucid Dreams to move in and out of different with ease and make "Lucid Dreams" a fantastic listen! Of course helping that cause out is a backing band that, to put it bluntly, fucking slays! Guitarists Rune Gutuen and Ådne Olastuen simply excel while the rest of the band (bassist Jan-Erik Lysø, keyboardist Thorleif Østmoe (who contacted Metal Mark about reviewing this album and thus turned me onto a cool, as in the Fonz cool folks, 12 track release with such smashing good songs as "Daisy Dukes", "Stormy", "Take Me Away" and "Paranoia") and drummer Rune Hagen) makes it all sound so easy! Of curse when you consider the fact that Lucid Dreams is made up of a group of musicians who have more them paid their dues (read: there is a lot of experience packed within the pages of Lucid Dreams) it makes sense that a group like Lucid Dreams sounds so fluid. Albums like this one are the reason I love writing for this blog. Chances are that without Heavy Metal Time Machine I wouldn't have had the pleasure of hearing this release. I mean it's not as if Oslo, Norway is right next door to Ohio, U.S.A. or anything! But thanks to this blog (and well, Al Gore's Internet!) I get to hear a cool album like this and then share it with all of you! Lucid Dreams are very much a band that embraces the theory that you can cook up really heavy tracks like "Paranoia", which really borders on power metal,  and yet still rock out like crazy! And it's all good. It's like there is plenty of love to go around and it's alright if you're (musically) into bands as diverse as Whitesnake and Iron Maiden (another band that, along with everyone from the Scorpions to Yngwie J. Malmsteen to 80's era Judas Priest!, figures into the sound of Lucid Dreams). Hopefully it doesn't  sound as if I'm over-hyping this 12 track album, but the diversity present on "Lucid Dreams" and the overflowing energy that this band exhibits is just fantastic and really has to be heard to be truly appreciated!

Want more info? Of course you do! So, either head here: www.luciddreamsband.com
or head here: www.facebook.com/LucidDreamsRocks