Dream Evil
In the Night
Century Media

It’s the last day of January and this is just my second album review of the new year. Things have been SLOW in the rock n’ universe, no doubt about it. Painfully slow. But listen, I promise you things will pick up, and here’s proof: In the Night, Dream Evil’s first album of new material in four years, and if anyone is gonna get the ball rolling, it’s Sweden’s power metal gladiators, who are once again standing tall in the metal stadium under a lightning-filled sky with shields held victoriously high. This is a sign, my friends, of what this year has in store for us.

I don’t know if there’s another metal band that sings about metal like Dream Evil does. It’s so fucking glorious. Their songs have always been gratuitously peppered with references to metal’s immortal majesty (i.e. “The Book of Heavy Metal,” “Fire! Battle! In Metal!,” “Heavy Metal in the Night,” “Made of Metal,” etc.) , each one seemingly a battle cry for metal’s dedicated army of foot soldiers (that’s you and me, Jack). In the Night, of course, is no different, and Dream Evil once again takes us on a epic chariot ride through metal’s fields of war, waving the banners of righteous Evilspeak. Dig the songs “Immortal,” “In the Night,” “Bang Your Head,” and the appropriately named “The Ballad” for the best examples. What else can I say? If you know Dream Evil, you know they’re pretty much as Priest as they come, with a healthy does of Kai Hansen to boot, and they make metal for metal’s sake. Metal that’s forged in the fires of hell’s deepest realms, no doubt.

Listen to “In the Night” from In the Night!