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The number of bands with Christian members on Metal Blade records is starting to increase again. What once consisted of Tourniquet, Galactic Cowboys, King's X, and Mortification, had decreased by 1 with Mortification leaving. Then Galactic Cowboys called it quits. Now Jacob's Dream has filled a big chunk of that void. If you like power metal at all, then this will be right up your alley. Jacob's Dream is a very talented band and it shows throughout this great CD. I've heard comparisons to Queensryche and Iron Maiden. Well, remembering many years back, I hear influences of Geoff Tate's vocals, but Jacob's Dream swears they had never even heard of Queensryche before recording this album, so copycat arguments are out the window. Iron Maiden I never listened to, so I can't comment there. As far as Christian bands go, the only influence I can point out would be the vocals of "Sylentiger" era Trytan, only much, much better. And this would only be on the parts where David Taylor's vocals are higher pitched. Trytan tended to not venture much lower on the vocal scale. Anyways...I really like this album and have grown more impressed the more I hear. The first half of the album is stronger than the second half, but the best song, "The Bleeding Tree", comes in as track #11. Other very strong songs include "Kinescope", "Scape Goat", "Tale of Fears", and the very haunting "Mad House of Cain". The band covers a wide variety of topics including responsiblity for your actions as parents, examining your soul, the Crusades of 1095, and the crucifiction of Christ. The only down sides would be the occasional "cramming" too many lyrics into one line or ending a song way too abruptly. Not much to complain about though. The overall album is very well-done, with emotion overflowing. The music is very heavy with a good amount of terrific guitar solos. I can't see someone into metal not liking this band. Jacob's Dream will take you on quite a ride...guaranteed. (Review by Matt)
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