Dream Child is yet another group largely comprised of former members of the band Dio. Ronnie James Dio played with many musicians in his career, and after his death in 2010 we have seen several Dio-related splinter groups. Some of them are better than others.
It looks like this has made it a little too easy for reviewers at large to write off Dream Child as “just another Dio spin-off.” That is a shame, because along with Last In Line, this is clearly one of the better bands coming out of that legacy.
We all miss Ronnie James Dio, but none perhaps miss him more than his former guitarist Craig Goldy. He has been trying to recapture the magic he had with his former employer and mentor for years with various bands. Dream Child is probably his first real success at doing so.
In addition to Goldy, we have bassist Rudy Sarzo (Dio, Quiet Riot, Ozzy, Whitesnake), drummer Simon Wright (Dio, AC/DC), guitarist/keyboardist Wayne Findlay (MSG) and vocalist Diego Valdez (Helker). Dream Child certainly have the pedigree, so how is the music?
As soon as you put on the album, you immediately hear that the band means business. This sounds like a new band with a high bar in terms of performances and songwriting. At the same time, they are not hiding one bit where they come from.
The project came to be because Goldy was bemoaning to his record company that bands no longer made music similar to those kind of classic hard rock bands any longer. He was promptly asked to put together that band, with the promise of a record contract if he did. The rest, as they say, is history.
One could in fact be taken a little aback at just how close things sound here to the style of Holy Diver and Last in Line-era Dio, with several tips of the hat to the Dio’s Sabbath and (in particular) Rainbow years.
While Dream Child’s style is firmly steeped in the mould of said classic bands, the songs are new and would need to be of high quality to live up to the ambition. The same go for the performances, and the pressure to deliver would particularly be on the vocalist in any band trying to follow the footsteps of Dio. There can never be another Ronnie James Dio, but Valdez is a top notch singer in a style similar to Dio. He is a great fit for Dream Child and does an admirable job.
We quickly learn that this band is aiming for. The way Valdez sings the first few lines of album opener Under the Wire makes no secret of his influences, but should also reassure those who would be sceptical of such an undertaking.
The songwriting on the album is familiar by way of its influences, yet adventurous by way of exploring ideas that the original bands never did. Individual tracks may still be based around bombastic choruses and catchy riffs, but the structures often avoid verse-chorus formulas and occasionally reach seven and eight-minute lengths. Moments like the “Mountain King”-esque twists on “It Is What It Is” and the largely instrumental “Washed Upon the Shore” even draw comparisons to Savatage’s most theatrical outings.
The musicianship may not be technical enough to warrant a prog tag, but Light of the Dark sees the band do a decent stretch in that direction, with Findlay’s dramatic keyboard tones lending an almost Rainbow Rising feel to this epic sounding track.
Overall, the album offer solid performances. Guitarist Craig Goldy is easily the star of the show, taking his signature biting tone to ambitious heights that make his Ritchie Blackmore influence even more apparent.
If I have any criticism of Until Death Do We Meet Again it is that this is a very long album. With 12 tracks where most fall into the 5-9 minute range, totalling over seventy minutes of music, it’s a lot to take in. There are however no bad tracks here, and I’d hate to have to remove any of them. Some could possibly have been trimmed a bit. Obviously the band is bursting with creativity, so at the end of the day it’s a minor nibble. I don’t mind accepting every minute of music on offer.
I primarily hope that Dream Child isn’t a one-shot project. This has the potential to grow far beyond these very promising beginnings. It ends up being a great tribute to Ronnie James Dio – not just because it holds his own vision in high regard, but because it does so while maintaining a high quality and managing to move forward on its own behalf. This will be an exciting one to follow.
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