{"id":71417,"date":"2022-07-15T17:50:13","date_gmt":"2022-07-15T22:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=71417"},"modified":"2022-07-15T17:50:14","modified_gmt":"2022-07-15T22:50:14","slug":"infinity-dream-memories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2022\/infinity-dream-memories\/","title":{"rendered":"Infinity Dream | Memories"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n\u2014 Writer \u2014<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In an age where there is a wealth of new music released each week and it\u2019s only a click away, it\u2019s easy for new bands \u2013 especially on smaller labels \u2013 to fall through the cracks. When a band comes along and really makes an impression, we like to call attention to it. North Carolina-based heavy metal band Infinity Dream is one that\u2019s definitely worth a listen. The band is the vision of guitarist Chris Bennett (of Widow), who also handles lead vocals here. Bennett is joined by a pair of Widow alumni \u2013 bassist John Wooten and drummer Marc Anthony \u2013 as well as Dina Altum on keyboards and vocals.<\/p>\n

Given the Widow connection, you might expect Infinity Dream\u2019s debut album\u00a0Memories\u00a0to be another high-flying, good time old school heavy metal album. It\u2019s definitely old school, but in a totally different vein. There\u2019s a classic power metal aspect to it, but slowed down. Not quite doom metal, but somber nonetheless. Warlord and Lordian Guard immediately come to mind, which is never a bad thing. There\u2019s also a progressive metal side to\u00a0Memories\u00a0that recalls the classic early \u201890s Fates Warning albums. It\u2019s satisfyingly heavy, but with plenty of technical flourishes, compelling melodies and an ethereal atmosphere from the keyboards and the production that perfectly suits these songs.<\/p>\n

You can usually tell when an album is a true passion project, and Bennett clearly put his heart and soul into this one. He wrote songs that pay tribute to his influences and allow him to go in directions that wouldn\u2019t quite work in Widow. And while you may pick up the occasional Widow vibe in the riffs, he shows a whole other side to his guitar playing on\u00a0Memories. Taking on the lead vocal role may be the boldest move of all, and it pays off. He stays mainly in a solid mid-range here, and his delivery (ably assisted by Altum\u2019s vocal harmonies) sets the tone for\u00a0Memories\u00a0almost as much as the guitars do. Highlights here include album opener \u201cThe Future Past,\u201d \u201cMarching On,\u201d the melancholy \u201cAnother Day\u201d and \u201cThe Eye,\u201d but this is an album that works best taken as a whole.<\/p>\n

\u201cAtmospheric prog metal through a mid \u201880s Metal Blade lens\u201d is a fairly tidy summation of the Infinity Dream sound. There really isn\u2019t any other band right now that sounds quite like this. If you\u2019ve ever made a mixtape of Dream Theater, Fates Warning and Queensryche songs or obsessed over Warlord and Crimson Glory cover artwork,\u00a0Memories\u00a0is going to put a smile on your face. It\u2019s available on your major streaming platforms, but if you like what you hear head over to Bandcamp and show them some love directly.<\/p>\n

Genre: Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nChris Bennett (v) (g)
\nJohn Wooten (b)
\nMarc Anthony (d)
\nDina Altum (k) (v)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1. The Future Past
\n2. Under Darkened Sky
\n3. Bitter End
\n4. Circle In Time
\n5. Marching On
\n6. Walk Away
\n7. Coming Home
\n8. The Stain
\n9. Another Day
\n10. The Eye<\/p>\n

Website: https:\/\/infinitydream.bandcamp.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines \u2014 Writer \u2014 In an age where there is a wealth of new music released each week and it\u2019s only a click away, it\u2019s easy for new bands \u2013 especially on smaller […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":71418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[15788,15791,15790,15789,15792,12456],"class_list":{"0":"post-71417","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music-reviews","8":"tag-chris-bennett","9":"tag-dina-altum","10":"tag-infinity-dream","11":"tag-john-wooten","12":"tag-progmetal","13":"tag-widow"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}