Search - The Cruxshadows :: Dreamcypher

They're so close...

Nails in My Head | 01/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Cruxshadows have been getting more and more digestable with each release. Dreamscypher is the logical continuation of Cruxshadow's journey into pop-songs, and boy, do they get it right! Wishfire laid the groundwork for the bouncy beats on Dreamcypher, but what's really new are the pop hooks.



"Sophia," the single from last year, played with pop-sensibility, but threw catchiness away in favour of a more "winterborn"-esque dancefloor formula. "Perfect," (a new song) however, takes a truly pop lyric set, and sets it to a bubbly new-wave influenced hook. It's the first song by the Cruxshadows that could concievably see radio play. It's just a little too long, clocking in at a solid 7 minutes.



"Elissia" is the second song with a hook, this time given by Rougue's punchy vocal delivery. And so the album continues. The usual hard guitars and violins are all still there for you purists, but this time they consistently come together into songs, unlike previously, where they would only do so on one song per album.



Dreamcypher, ultimately, feels kind of like the Cure's Disintegration in that it takes pop formulas, applies a romantic instrumentation, and stretches the finished product into 7 minute epics.



The best album yet. I even like the ballads this round."

A new fan.

Rayn Drahps | San Francisco | 02/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't know how I ended up at the show. I guess I went to see one of the opening bands as well as just to get out, shoot some pictures and have a good night of music before returning to the work week.



My initial plan was to catch the opening acts then leave before it got too late. What happened instead was what I will remember as one of the best performances I've seen. For a band I'd only heard of in passing and maybe heard on a web radio station without realizing who the music was from, I ended up being an instant fan. Rogue's stage (and crowd, and hanging from the rafters while singing) performance captured and commanded me to listen from the second he brushed by me on his way to the stage at the beginning of the show all the way until the very end.



I ended up buying as many albums as I could and while the old material is good too, Dreamcypher is an amazing album from start to finish. One of the other reviews faults Rogue for his (over)use of mythological references, I disagree because his lyrics are so powerful they almost command you to track down all the stories he sings about in his songs and find out why these stories made such an impact to him. If people calmly dismiss this band as fun and danceable without diving into the lyrics and stories (actual stories like the old old days!) then they are missing out. To those of us who like dance music but get sick of the trite lyrics that get embedded into the songs this band is like our generation, full of hyper-linking and sharing. I like anything in general that makes me think as well as give me references to research on my own. I came out of the show feeling a wash of emotions, my friend and I were both entirely speechless on our cab ride home and woke up the next morning with a sense of hope that this planet have some good things left on it after all.



If you don't like well written lyrics, strings in your industrial or a message other than fighting the system then this band is not going to be for you. For me it hit like a cannonball through the heart."

Superb

J. Russell | NC, USA | 03/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I won't rehash what many of the others have said so far, I'll just agree. I, for one, personally don't mind longer songs. That's just more song to like (or dislike, but there's none of that here). Excellent CD."