Album review: ALLEN OLZON – Army Of Dreamers

Frontiers [release date: 09.09.22]

The Russell Allen, Anette Olzon, Magnus Karlsson triumvirate mined a rich seam of melodic metal on their well received Allen Olzon debut, Separate Worlds, in 2020.

Individually, they are accomplished musical artists… primarily, Olzon fronted Nightwish and Allen handled vocals for Symphony X. There’s more of course, but those are the high profile moments.

Karlsson’s lengthy CV needs no documenting. As you might expect, this one man whirlwind again writes, plays guitar, bass and keyboards on the follow up, Army Of Dreamers.

Rather than alternate from track to track as on Separate Worlds, vocalists Allen and Olzon trade lyrics within each song here. The dichotomy between macho v feminine vocal delivery adds a welcome operatic tone and texture to the drama.

Both have the ability to deliver a set of lyrics as if they have world shattering meaning, when in fact they mostly recycle relationship issues, of the personal and the environmental kind.

This album then, is about mood and emotion, and creating its own highly melodic metal landscape. Most notably on ‘Out Of Nowhere’ and ‘A Million Skies’. Allen digs in deep, vocally, while Olzon shows restraint, allowing Karlsson’s epic, spine tingling orchestration to do the heavy lifting.

‘All Alone’ and ‘Until Its Over’ start off as their titles suggest – simpler, more straightforward songs, constructed around piano and guitar, but nevertheless ultimately full blooded and epic in scale, radiating a warmth not commonly encountered in this genre.

As album standouts go, ‘So Quiet’ is a prime contender. There’s a touch of the cinematic there with a hint of Zimmer, but arguably, the upbeat ‘Carved Into Stone’ just pips it. The song’s bouncy tune and dancing strings and choirs have a distinct, Eastern European flavour, pleasingly raising the whole affair’s international profile. ***1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)