The band comes from Concord, Ontario which shows that the whole world is captivated by the metal scene. After recently seeing a picture of Dissident Saint’s 2007 “The Rise” I knew I had to hear it. The cover alone was enough to catch my interest upon first glance and still does as I gaze upon it while the music blares in the background. This reminds me, I need to talk about the music! The music overall on this cd is what one would expect from bands that have Dream Theater as a main influence. A nice mix of progressive metal and a dash of power metal thrown in. The main draw of Dream Theater comes from the keyboard and guitar dueling solos. The songs are well polished and show the band ability to slow down and speed up without losing a flow that so many bands do. There’s not a whole lot that could make these compositions any better (they do get lengthy which makes it even more prog).

The band themselves work together very well and vocals are handled by Sergey. There are a few high notes (held for a long time) yet to say that is his finest point would be wrong. While his vocals might not be soaring high, he still provides some very operatic vocals, and seamless at that. I must say he must have some of the cleanest vocals I’ve heard and a great vibrato as well. My favorite track would have to be the first entitled “Into the Fold” for the Ryche-ish sounding chords used on it. The only problems are the mix and lack of remembrance. I can’t recall much beyond excellent musicianship after the second time through the disc. The mix, for the music, is often too far in the background with the lead guitar only popping out at certain points. The vocals are overall a decibel too loud as well making the vocals drown out the music. I have to give this a 7/10, because being a musician I can appreciate what Dissident Saint have to offer as would any progressive metal fan.

Reviewed by QMII

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