Search - DGM :: Hidden Place

The New Prog Band From Italy!!!

Elton Lee | Boston, MA United States | 09/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wow what an album! DGM has shown such amazing improvement with their 4th release, Hidden Place. The band has evolved and created their own sound, escaping the shackles of being a Symphony X rip-off. Although at times the singer Titta Tani sounds a lot like Russell Allen, he has a much broader vocal range. He's can be (but isn't always) more ferocious than Russell, especially on the last track Winter Breeze, in which he shows he can scream with the power of any black metal vocalist. Not only have DGM's vocals improved, but also their production. At last, every instrument is crystal clear and the sound is exactly how progressive metal should be like. Technically, DGM is almost perfect. Every member has his or her own song to be particularly proud of, particularly Titta Tani; he rarely lacks in any song.

But just because DGM has improved so much, it doesn't mean they can't grow anymore. It's very frustrating to see a band with so much potential still fall short of a classic on their 4th attempt. The problem with Hidden Place is that it's lacking in aggressiveness. There are signs of fierceness throughout the whole album, with the spectacular Storm #351, the beginning of Heaven, Blind!!, Age of the Flame, and A Day Without the Sun, but the aggressiveness is never held out completely. Take Heaven for example. The song starts with, and I emphasize, insane bass solo that leads to heavy riffs and kick-ass bass drumming. But soon after the atmosphere slows down, becomes laid back, and in fact a bit poppy. The song picks up its speed later on in many places but it's never constant. It's something like Speed/Pop/Speed/Pop/Speed/Pop etc. before spending quite some time being thrashy and yet again falling back to pop. The worst thing is, almost every song is like this. The good thing is, there's definite potential. Whenever Titto screams or yells, whenever the riffs are heavy and the drums are pounding, DGM is spectacular. They just need to stay aggressive, because that's when they sound their best.



Nevertheless there are many excellent songs on this album. Save Me, which is by far the best track on Hidden Place, is everything that progressive metal should be: fast, aggressive, melodic, and of course, progressive. It's very synthesizer-heavy, which is an excellent thing because Fabio Sanges really knows how to handle the keyboards. Invisible Rain, Hidden Places, and Winter Breeze are the staple slow songs and I'll have to be honest, Winter Breeze makes me feel quite depressed. All three of these songs are excellent, but Winter Breeze ices the cake. Storm #351, Blind!!, and Age of the Flame are the heaviest songs on the album. Age of the Flame is an excellent song, showing how aggressive DGM can be, and how good Fabio Costantino is. His drumming is mesmerizing in this song, unlike most others. With the exception of Save Me and Storm #351, Costantino isn't that amazing.



I'll be blunt, I love this album. It's been in my CD player since the day I got it, but DGM could be a lot better. Scattered throughout Hidden Place are segments which show tremendous potential: the acoustics and atmosphere of Winter Breeze, the guitar solo at the 3:30 mark in Blind!!, the aggressiveness of Storm #351, the bass solo in Heaven, the screaming at the end of Winter Breeze and Invisible Rain, the synthesizer solos all throughout each song, the drums in Age of the Flame, and more. I'm saddened to see that DGM is not yet perfect, but without a doubt, they soon will be!



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