Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

I've classed this as world music because it's impossible to find an effective genre to sum up this stew of pop, rock, classical and techno though if there were a category for progressive it might fit there too! Dream Aria are from Canada and they like recording music that doesn't fit snugly within people's expectations or accepted musical boundaries. I've actually been playing selected songs from this on the Cross Rhythms Independents' Day programme for a while. When I say "selected" it's because some of these tracks work wonderfully but then some seems to fall flat. I love "Sungoddess" and "In The Wake - Soul" where the latter features interesting Eastern melodic ideas but I find that others, like "Pact" and "Spirit", irritate me because of singer Ann Burstyn's voice which grates. Strange because it doesn't grate on every song. It must be the context! The album is very creative and very unusual and works very well.in places.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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