Italian progressive metal/rock band Lucid Dream have released their third full-length album, 'Otherworldly'. It is continuation of the bigger concept about the examination of a human being, and the whole universe. Previous ones have been okay, with some awesome songs, but some filling. How's the third time, then?!

The lyrics aren't too complicated, and neither is the music. Guitarist Simone Terigi's vision has been rolling music combined with progressive elements. While two first albums were lighter and more in vein with Joe Satriani and Rush, to put it bluntly, with 'Otherworldly' he increased the heavy metal influence. There are some Iron Maiden (and NWOBHM in general) and Megadeth style harmony lead guitar parts, galloping rhythms, and tight riffing to be heard. I welcome this darker and a tad heavier approach with open arms, since it's more on my comfort zone. Another band this reminds me at times are the legendary Rainbow. 'A Blanket of Stars' is a beautiful acoustic interlude. 'Broken Mirror' starts like a mixture of Iron Maiden's 'Remember Tomorrow and Black Sabbath's 'Planet Caravan', which can be called as "dreamy" (not tiring!). The closer 'The Theater of Silence', which is an instrumental, collect most of Lucid Dream's musical sides together in a marvellous way.

The songs are now better, simple as that. There are these rolling, more straight parts, and these can boost the band to warp drive. There are tempo changes, and more than simplistic 1-2-3-4 rhythms, which give colour to Lucid Dream's space. s does the tempo fluctuations. If I put a number for the band's progressiveness factor, between 1 (not much at all) and 10 (way out there!), then it's about 4. The music is catchy yet it is adventurous; it just isn't very multifaceted, and it is totally okay. It is also rather original, not a copied hybrid. This time around the vocal lines are good; they fit in better than before and do not lack of catchiness.

The vocalist has a rather high-pitched voice naturally. Mostly it is about rock style singing, but some bits of power metal style high register singing break the mold. He uses quite a lot of fast vibration, and is well in control of his voice. The rhythms guitar tone is dryish and a bit ballsless. I surely wish it was meatier. The lead guitars are quite varied, tones-wise, and awesome in general, being memorable and skillful. The bass guitar does not follow the guitars too closely, but it easy to separate from the overall sound. The drums sound cool; snare is tight and bass drum kicks nicely. The instrumental side of the album remind me of Damn The Machine's sole album, released back in 1993. There could be more punch generally in the sound.

If you like progressive yet rocking rock/metal music of 1970's-1990s, Lucid Dream offer an alternative in present day. It is the best the band have offered thus far, and I hope there's more to come.

Rating: 7+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
02/15/2017 11:54