Everybody has a role to play. Derrick Vella and Justin DeTore — who have enough pedigree between them that they hardly even need the other designations — are ‘Architect of Dreams’ and ‘The Bridge Between Two Worlds,’ respectively. Esteemed guests like Phil Swanson (Solemn Lament, ex-Hour of 13, etc.) and Leila Abdul-Rauf (Cardinal Wyrm, Vastum, etc.) join in as ‘The Forlorn’ and ‘The Siren’s Call,’ and they’re by no means the only ones. Figure out your own title if you like. For the purposes of this post at least, I dub myself ‘Exhausted of Spirit.’

Quite sure you don’t need a reminder from me as to the poised death-doom that was on offer with Dream Unending‘s debut, Tide Turns Eternal (review here), when it was released last year. Thus Song of Salvation, which is out Nov. 11 through 20 Buck Spin and Ván Records, is all the more something took forward to as the follow-up. The album info below — unceremoniously hoisted from the label’s Bandcamp — drops hints of a 16-minute closer, and that sounds like a win in terms of expanding on what they did last time, and the guest appearances will no doubt flesh out the already class aesthetic that the project established last time through. I didn’t know this was coming — see ‘Exhausted of Spirit’ above — but if you were ready to close the book on new records for 2022, consider “Secret Grief” below a call to hold off a bit longer.

As seen on the internet:

The 2021 Dream Unending debut album ‘Tide Turns Eternal’ was a marked shift in musical ambition for Derrick Vella (Tomb Mold) and Justin DeTore (Innumerable Forms, Sumerlands). While structured with a foot firmly in Death / Doom, a far loftier purpose and progressivism was its hallmark, as such distancing itself from others pursuing the style. Now returning only a year later with the stunning ‘Song of Salvation’, that exploratory zeal is given substantially greater allowance to soar and shine.

The 14 minute title track opener enters like a morning sunrise over a calm sea before ramping up into ethereal heaviness like the richly textured waves of a sudden ocean storm. The songs momentum never retreats into laborious repetition, always opening new doorways, ebbing and flowing like river water from its source.

Like solitarily gazing at the downtown lights of the city at night from the window of a darkened room, ’Secret Grief’ features the guest talents of vocalist Phil Swanson and Leila Abdul-Rauf on trumpet, further widening the breadth of musical talent involved and the sweep of “Song of Salvation’s” distinctive narrative.

The tranquil interlude of ‘Murmur Of Voices’ gives way to the evocative ‘Unrequited’ that begins with a lonely solo guitar before transitioning into a drifting daze of afternoon reverie and subconscious meditation.

Finally comes the album’s epic bookend,16 minute closer ‘Ecstatic Reign’. It features perhaps the album’s heaviest straight Doom moments along with the return of ‘Tide Turns Eternal’ featured guest voices McKenna Rae and Richard Poe. Tomb Mold drummer / throat Max Klebanoff also appears for a shattering back and forth vocal tradeoff with DeTore. The album’s cinematic vision and painstaking colorful detail are fully encompassed bringing this enthralling journey to its enduring peak.

Only a year on from ‘Tide Turns Eternal’ Dream Unending’s rapid evolution on the boundless panorama of ‘Song of Salvation’ is, crucially and intrinsically, a continued departure from limiting genre norms and an adept redefining of them.

Tracklisting:
1. Song Of Salvation
2. Secret Grief
3. Murmur Of Voices
4. Unrequited
5. Ecstatic Reign

Members:
Derrick Vella – Architect of Dreams
Justin DeTore – The Bridge Between Two Worlds

Piano and Synth contributions by David Vella

Featuring:
Phil Swanson as The Forlorn
Leila Abdul-Rauf as The Siren Call
Max Klebanoff as Final Judgement
McKenna Rae as The Implorer
Richard Poe as The Dreamer

Drums captured at Solomon’s Temple by Arthur Rizk and J.K Allison
Guitars captured at Boxcar Studio by Sean Pearson
Mixed and Mastered by Arthur Rizk
Cover Painting by Benjamin A. Vierling
Layout by Chimère Noire

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Dream Unending, Song of Salvation (2022)