Dream Widow Review

Date Of Release: March 25, 2022, Although initial recording began in 1993.

Dream Widow was an Alternative rock band that formed sometime in the late 1980's in Seattle, Washington. The band's members consist of:

• Skye Willow (Lead Vocals)
• Greg Nole (Lead Guitar)
• Information Unavailable (Bass)
• Information Unavailable (Drums)
• Information Unavailable (Keyboards)

Dream Widow was a popular band in their local area of Seattle. Large groups of fans would often flock to whatever local gigs they played throughout the city. They were often referred to by fans as "The Next Jane's Addiction".

Unfortunately that all came to an end in the year 1993. The band had moved into a mansion in Encino, California in order to start recording their debut album. Weeks had gone by without anybody hearing anything from the band. Eventually their producer, Jeremy Shill decided to check up on them.

What he found could only be described as something out of a horror movie. All members of the band except for Greg Nole had been found murdered in gruesome, grisly ways. Greg himself had died by suicide. Because of this police and investigators had come to the conclusion that Greg Nole had murdered his band mates before killing himself, as no signs of forced entry were detected throughout the property.

What's stranger is, during police investigation they had found numerous objects related to satanism, an altar, blood, and even a dead raccoon with it's ribcage open, nailed to the wall in the basement. Which have lead many people to believe Greg Nole was a satanist and might've murdered his band mates for some sort of ritual. Regardless, this was a strange and tragic crime that we might never get answers to.

I forgot to mention that among the objects discovered was the band's demo tape that had 7 tracks already recorded and 1 unfinished. For whatever reason Greg Nole had the band stray away from their alternative rock roots in favor of metal, which is bizarre to say the least. For 29 years it had gone unreleased. That is, until it was just recently leaked onto the internet, and that's what I'm planning on reviewing today...

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In all seriousness this was a metal album that Dave Grohl, Ex-Drummer of Nirvana and Foo Fighters frontman, made to coincide with the release of the movie Studio 666. Dream Widow is the name of the band that appears in the movie and the story I told you was their backstory in the film. This album features Dave Grohl playing almost all the instruments by himself, very much like the Foo Fighter's debut album. Though two other people helped in the recording of the album. Foo Fighter's member Rami Jaffee played keyboards on a few songs, and Jim Rota was lead guitar for a majority of the songs.

This album also acts as a love letter to metal and it's subgenres. As Dave Grohl has stated many times how much of a metalhead he is and his absolute love for the genre.

Hopefully my retelling of Dream Widow's backstory was entertaining for you guys :)

Also April Fools! Just in case I got anybody...

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Songs

Encino
An absolute monster of an opening. Encino is a fast and short song that just sounds straight up fucking evil! Right off the bat it wastes no time and hits you with everything it has. This whole song is borderline death metal, Dave Grohl delivers these amazing Black metal vocals as well. In the middle of the song we get hit by this chorus of deep voices only to get slapped in the face with this incredibly groovy riff. Overall a fun and great opener that sets the tone for the rest of the album.

Cold
This song dials back from the previous song and has a more groovy and slow tempo. Cold has more of a Sludge metal vibe going on. Dave's vocals on this track are just awesome and full of sin! The guitar riff on this track is just absolutely sickening, I enjoy how bluesy it is. The chorus is also just straight up sexy, especially with the bass and the guitar riff just bouncing off of each other.

March of the Insane
Shooting out like a bullet, March of the Insane picks the fast tempo back up. This song is more akin to 80's thrash metal with black metal vocals, an amazing combination I might add. It's very reminiscent of songs from Venom. The drumming on this track is the best out of the whole album, which I'm not trying to downplay the rest of Dave's drumming but on here it shines, especially with how much energy Dave is putting into it. The guitar solo on this song is also just killer.

I love the lyrics on this song as well. Yeah the chorus is cheesy but I don't mind it. But then you have lines like, "Cower in total surrender. Give in and yeild to his name. Abandon to wicked seduction. Agony, torment, and pain". Which makes this song all the more badass.

The Sweet Abyss
I really enjoy the vocals on this track, you got your black metal growls, as well as genuine good singing. All of it is laced in a layer of reverb, which makes the vocals on this song fun to listen to and separates it from other songs. The guitar riff played throughout the song is sick as all hell. The chorus for The Sweet Abyss is very similar to typical Foo Fighters songs but it works very well for this song and doesn't feel off.

Angel With Severed Wings
This song also continues with effects on the vocals, unlike the previous song however this track instead lowers Dave's voice down to sound demonic. Angel With Severed Wings also brings in two guitars for it's main riff, which sound awesome. The guitar solo for this track is short but sweet.

Lyrically this song is about rebelling against a "king" and not living a life of servitude, completely badass. Seeing as this is a metal album littered with satanic references though, I'm guessing this song is truly about Satan's rebellion against God. What did God do when Satan tried to overthrow him? Yup he ripped his wings off, hence the name of the song Angel With Severed Wings.

I'd also like to add that in my opinion this is the weakest song off the album. My main problem with this song is it's chorus, it just sounds too poppy. I know it might sound like a silly complaint but it really does bother me. It doesn't feel metal at all and it kinda just kills the vibe for me. Everything else about this song rocks, the chorus is my only problem.

Come All Ye Unfaithful
Those booming dual guitars playing their respective riffs is a kickass way to start a song! I love the chugging of the guitars on this track. The chorus is a major improvement from the previous song, which is a big relief. It's just so smooth and Dave's growls blend in perfectly. That whole chorus verse, "Send in the parish, sinners, and saints. Open your arms, salvation awaits. Let go of reason, let it begin. Open your heart to the evil within". I just love how well it rhymes, and, and...I can't even begin to describe how much I love that part! The solo for this song also adds a nice spice of flavor to this already great song.

Becoming
We have arrived at probably my favorite song off the album. This is where the true demonic shit happens. Becoming leans heavily into the subgenre of Doom metal, which is all about creating a dark and sometimes scary atmosphere.

This song starts off with an electric guitar constantly playing a short riff every now and then in complete silence, backwards speech and whispering join in shortly afterwards. Before you know it you get jump scared by blood curdling screams. Once that's done we get introduced to one of the heaviest, most disgusting, most absolutely fucking atrocious, guitar riffs my ears have been graced with in a while! Dave's Black metal vocals make a welcomed return on this song as well. Around the middle of the song a chorus joins in and starts singing. I can easily imagine a satanic cult chanting in a dark room, the only lighting being a circle of candles.

I seriously can't stress enough how much I love this song. Seriously this track is just menacing, vile, and evil.

Lacrimus dei Ebrius (The Tears Of God)
This is it. The final track off the album. This song was written to be 45 minutes long. It's said that if recording was ever completed for this song a portal would open to hell that would allow demons to enter our world. Thankfully though Dream Widow wasn't able to finish it, leaving this song largely incomplete. Which explains the very sudden ending.

From what we do have though, this song is broken up into 3 sections, all being connected by this kickass guitar riff. Very reminiscent of early Black Sabbath songs. No vocals are present on this track too, it's entirely instrumental, it doesn't make it any less badass though. This song also leans heavily into Doom metal but has a lot more going on.

The first section of the song features a groovy and heavy guitar riff. Something that I can see Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath coming up with.

The second section has straight up crazy Death/Black metal blast beat drumming, before settling into a heavy, moderate, tempo. During that time a guitar riff comprising of ugly and wrong notes is played.

The third section is silent, with the only instrument being an acoustic guitar playing beautiful yet depressing chords and arpeggios. It's then followed up by a series of slow, menacing, and wicked guitar riffs. There's also a drumming section during this part that reminds me a lot of Anthrax's song Indians. The song finishes off with the connecting riff playing once more before abruptly ending. Overall an amazing way to finish the album off.

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Final Thoughts

In conclusion Dream Widow's never released self-titled album was fucking amazing! It was an album I was heavily anticipating and not only did it meet my expectations, it completely soared above it. Dave Grohl and all of those involved did an absolutely phenomenal job. I've listened to this album a good 10 times throughout this week and I'm still not bored of it. It has huge replayability.

Having said that it's not perfect, Angel With Severed Wings feels a little out of place but other than that you have a pretty amazing metal album. I highly recommend this album to metalheads and Foo Fighters fans, as well as to anybody who thinks they might enjoy it themselves. This album is a love letter to metal and it's subgenres. It's partly old school metal but yet it manages to feel and sound completely new and fresh. Here's hoping to another Dream Widow album or anything else metal related from Dave Grohl. It's a side of him I wish we heard more often.

Also for anybody who needs more metal from Dave Grohl in their life, this is hardly the first time he made a metal album. In 2004 he released an album by the name of Probot. Where he collaborates with metal legends like Lemmy Kilmister from Motörhead, Max Cavalera from Sepultura, King Diamond, and even Jack Black to name a few.

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If I Had To Rate It Out Of 10: 9/10

Songs I Liked:

• Encino
• Cold
• March of the Insane
• The Sweet Abyss
• Come All Ye Unfaithful
• Becoming
• Lacrimus dei Ebrius (The Tears Of God)

Songs I Disliked:

• None!

For Those Interested In Checking It Out Here's A Preview Song: