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DREAM CHILD
Until Death Do We Meet Again
Frontiers Records 2018

Guitarist Craig Goldy [DIO, GIUFFRIA] has been more active than he's been in recent years. He's part of DIO DISCIPLES, he launched RESURRECTION KINGS, he reconnected with singer David Eisley [GIUFFRIA] in a new project and now he brings us DREAM CHILD. Joining Goldy are drummer Simon Wright [AC/DC, DIO, OPERATION:MINDCRIME], bassist Rudy Sarzo [QUIET RIOT, DIO, WHITESNAKE], rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Wayne Findlay [MICHAEL SCHENKER] and new comer [to us in the United States, anyway] Argentinian vocalist Diego Valdez who has fronted the band HELKER.

DREAM CHILD is a ‘meat and potatoes’, no frills, classic metal album that is rooted in 70s DEEP PURPLE and Dio-era RAINBOW. The record is titled Until Death Do We Meet Again. Those that have followed Goldy’s Shrapnel Records solo releases are aware that the title track was featured on his 1995 album Better Late Than Never, though in instrumental form. Until Death Do We Meet Again is a bangin’ album as you can probably imagine. Valdez is a dead ringer for Ronnie James Dio, perhaps he sounds a bit too much like Ronnie James Dio. Valdez can give Jorn Lande a run for his money in the RJD clone department but the question here is, do we need this? Valdez wears his influence on his sleeve and I’m sure he was brought on board by Goldy under direction of Frontiers, who love issuing ‘classic’ sounding rock and metal albums.

The downside of Until Death We Meet Again is that there’s a dozen tracks on it and there's several ‘lengthy' songs that border on ‘epics'. The album would have benefited from shaving it down to about 9-10 tracks. Until Death We Meet Again suffers from monotony as a result and is difficult to get through in one sitting. Goldy and Valdez shine on the album from top to bottom. The highlights on Until Death We Meet Again are the title track, “Under The Wire”, “You Can’t Take Me Down” and “Midnight Song”. DREAM CHILD is a band that is sorely needed in the metal scene right now but it remains to be seen if this is truly a ‘band' or merely another 'project' that is forgotten after a few months. Whatever the case might be, Until Death We Meet Again is worthy of your attention.

4.0 Out Of 5.0