ARTIST: Factory Of Dreams
TITLE: A Strange Utopia
LABEL: Progrock Records
GENRE: Progressive Rock
BITRATE: 205kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 1h 09min total
RELEASE DATE: 2009-00-00
RIP DATE: 2009-12-03
Track List:
1. VOyage To Utopia 4:36
2. The Weight Of The World 5:54
3. Inner Station 6:18
4. Sonic Sensations 4:19
5. The Road Around Saturn 4:21
6. Garden Of All Seasons 4:21
7. Dark Utopia 4:50
8. Vacation In Venus 4:26
9. Chaotic Order 4:09
10.Slow Motion World 5:08
11.Destructible Destruction 5:57
12.E-Motions 9:32
13.Broken (Bonus Track) 2:23
14.The Weight Of The World (radio 3:26
Edit) (Bonus Track)
ince the early days of Sonic Pulsar, Portugal's Hugo Flores's output has been
prolific and impressive - and Factory Of Dreams is his latest project.
Designed to counterpoint the complexity of his Project Creation music, Factory
Of Dreams is - by comparison - more straightforward and approachable, less
creative and experimental, and it's song-oriented instead of a sweeping concept
piece.
Poles should find a wide audience as it slots neatly into the genre originally
created by The Gathering, and since enriched by luminaries such as Within
Temptation, Nightwish, Edenbridge, Lacuna Coil, After Forever, and Epica - et
al. It is goth metal, though the 'metal' label is used lightly, fronted by the
rich soprano of Sweden's Jessica Lehto. But unlike its genre-mates, Factory Of
Dreams isn't a band - it's a 2-person project, an Internet collaboration, with
vocals and many arrangements provided by Jessica while multi-instrumentalist
Flores provides the rest. Consequently, there's a fair amount of variety from
track to track, though the dynamics and the energy - and the synth percussion -
are consistent, and some might accuse each song of sounding somewhat similar to
the next.
Although it isn't a concept piece in the sense of the complicated Project
Creation story, Flores remains close to his sci-fi story roots with this one.
The theme here revolves around a place on some distant planet comprising two
lands called Poles, separated by a river, divided by good and evil - or
"positiveness and negativeness". This world is ruled by a "Generator Of
Illusions", hence the Factory of Dreams title. It gets more complex, and hints
tenuously at modern society's inclination to ingest what we're told as the
absolute truth. That may sound somewhat over the top, but the theme does add a
layer of sophistication to the record.
"Electric Boom" is a guitar-led piece, and showcases Flores's virtuosity on his
primary instrument - rich guitar work underscored by a fat fretless bass, and
only a few brief lines sung by Jessica. "Air Powerplant" is a standout - one of
the simpler tracks, yet the tempo changes from elegant piano work to a huge
metallic wall of sound, and with Jessica slipping in and out of an operatic
style, it has an appeal of its own. "The Piano In The Sea" is another soft
ballad, with piano and electronica floating above that soothing songstress.
Closing track "Crossing The Bridge To The Positive Pole" ends rather abruptly,
leading you to check your CD player - because surely there ought to be another
song?
If you're a fan of the progressive goth format of a semi-operatic soprano
contrasting dark atmospherics and power-chord driven bass-heavy hard-rock,
Factory Of Dreams is not Poles apart from others in the genre - but it's a
pleasing listen, and has a lot going for it.