"A pale blue dot" is a synonym for the planet Earth, just a shiny blue dot at the edge of the Universe. It is also a fitting description for Dreamshade, a Swiss melodic death metal band on "What Silence Hides" (2011) and "The Gift Of Life" (2013) turned metalcore on "Vibrant" (2016), an interesting if an insignificant collective in the ocean of like acts howbeit with noticeable talent and skill lending themselves to comparisons to Between The Buried And Me, Soilwork or Killswitch Engage.

The instrumental part is the most impressive puzzle of Dreamshade, Kevin Cali (vocals), Fernando "Fella" Di Cicco (guitars, vocals), Luca "Liuk" Magri (guitars, programming), Gian-Andrea Costa (bass) and Francesco "Fry" Ferrini (drums) clearly at the top of their game, especially Cicco’s and Magri’s guitars evoking comparisons to Marcus Vanhala (Omnium Gatherum, Insomnium) or the classic In Flames’ duo Björn Ingvar Gelotte and Clas Håkan Jesper Strömblad as evidenced in the excellent "Lightbringers" or the favorite "On My Own". The melodic aspect is very high but it is a double edged sword since it comes often at the cost of heaviness which, when you consider two facts: they used to be a meloDEATH band and that metal and hardcore should both be brutal and heavy, is significant. Remember the lighter moments of the otherwise excellent "As Daylight Dies" by Killswitch Engage, or, better yet, the dreadful second eponymous? That is the problem here.

That’s not to say that songs are not enjoyable, because they are but there is substantial power missing from them which won’t let me give it a greater score. There are parts that borrow from the Linkin Parkian rap verses/melodic chorus pattern and lyrically the work is of a very noble character, such as in the Syrian refugee crisis-themed "A Place We Called Home" but, overall, it just smacks too much of the likes of Bullet For My Valentine or Mendeed. As there’s a tremendous unrealized potential here which won’t let me dismiss them, I hope that Dreamshade will strive for more originality, power and balance on subsequent endeavors.

https://www.dreamshade.ch/