The Dreamside- Spin Moon Magic

Hailing from the Netherlands, goth veterans The Dreamside are back with Spin Moon Magic, an album that showcases a modernized brand of their moody goth rock formula. With a guitar-heavy delivery that brings to mind Within Temptation and Evanescence (although The Dreamside predate both), the now-five-piece, led by female vocalist and founding member Kemi Vita, charge through a set of 12 new songs.

The epic opener "Into a Frenzy" is certainly a good way to kick off the album, a wall of synths accenting an up-tempo drum/bass-driven frame and particularly emotive, beautiful vocal work. "Forsaken" is one of the disc's best, a killer rocker with a mellower, melodic, more electronic verse and a spectacular heavy chorus hook. The chorus of the rhythmic, sinister, semi-club-friendly "The Feast is Set" is either a homage to or a marginal rip-off of The Mission's "Deliverance", while the mellower single "Open Your Eyes" is a lovely, largely electronics-driven offering featuring Rogue of The Cruxshadows.

"Gates of Dawn" is a slower blend of crushing guitars atop cascading synth arpeggios before giving way to a faster chorus reminiscent, particularly vocally, of The Cranberries' "Promises". The extremely impressive "Somewhere Before" sheds the guitars for a sonically dense, heavily layered, synth-based, moody orchestral ballad before the disc's title track comes in with a steady driving rhythm and stilted guitar riffing, cohering to form one of the most straightforward goth rockers here. "Dreaming All of You" continues in a similar vein, blending archetypal goth rock elements with more electronic production on its verse and sporting a noteworthy guitar solo.

Like March, the album comes in like a lion but goes out like a lamb. "Song of the Sirens" is a brief but beautiful ethereal instrumental built around synth violin that foreshadows the following "Nocturnal", another largely lush but subtle, melodic synth offering with excellently layered vocals and a stronger rock chorus. "Joyfire" once again follows the mellow verse, distorted-riff-laden rock/metal chorus formula. "Slay Your Dragons", meanwhile, is an appropriate closer, a slow, melodramatic rocker filled out by acoustic guitar, piano, and synth strings. Tacked on for good measure, you'll find an excellent bonus dance remix of "Die Hoffnung" that actually fits in nicely with the rest of the material here and adds an extra burst of energy.

As a whole, Spin Moon Magic is a strong release that rivals the competition but, perhaps, doesn't quite establish itself enough or display enough originality to stand above it despite the band's veteran status. That said, however, it's worth a listen for fans and newcomers alike.