Album review : DGM – Life
Frontiers Music [Release date : 17.11.23]
Hugely underrated Italian Prog Metallers, DGM, continue to provide reasons why they should be underrated no longer.
On their eleventh album now since the debut in 1997, they’ve seen the inevitable lineup changes that inflict themselves on most long lived rock bands.
That said, the current lineup has been in place since 2008. So there’s a strong sense of cohesion and unified purpose to the performances here.
When we reviewed the band’s last album, Tragic Separation (2020), we said: “stylistically, much of the album switches fluidly between genres.”
There’s not so much of that variation now. At least not in the music.
Lyrically, Progrock albums often find themselves trapped by a concept that ties them into meaningless repetition. It’s not a trap that DGM have fallen into with past albums, and there is no obvious concept here, other than the emotional moments we all try to manage, as in ‘The Sorrow’, ‘Second Chance’, ‘Journey To Nowhere’ and others.
The music is dense and intense. ‘To The Core’ and ‘The Calling’ place
great emphasis on bruising rhythms, emphatic axework and hard hitting choruses.
‘Find Your Way’ and ‘Dominate’ pack in elements of hard rock with a strong melodic focus, then fire out the result in a swirl of hardbodied, combative progressive metal.
Vocalist, Marco Basile, and guitarist, Simone Mularoni get the attention. That’s understandable, as they write the songs and provide the route finding, but in fairness to the others, the tracks have the rich feeling that music has when all the musicians are in the room at the same time. Very post pandemic.
Other notable tracks, like ‘Second Chance’ and ‘Neuromancer’ are a tight, solid mix of power metal aggression with vivid progmetal undertones, but it’s opener ‘Unravel The Sorrow’ that really stands out. It’s written around a classy piano melody and adrenalised chord shifts… a bit different and all the better for it. ****
Review by Brian McGowan
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.
Next session: Sunday 1 December
Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio
David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 20 October 2024.
UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 22 October 2024.
How to Listen Live?
Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)
Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”
Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.
More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com
Power Plays w/c 28 October 2024
THE RASMUS Rest In Pieces (Better Noise Music)
THE PLAGUE What Else Can I Do (FiXT)
STAR CIRCUS Turn The Tide (indie)
DEFENCES Breathe It In (Long Branch Records)
Featured Albums w/c 28 October 2024
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)
PDF - you can delete unwanted sections