DGM - The Passage

Published August 21 2016

*=Staff's pick	The Secret - Part 1* The Secret - Part 2* Animal Ghost Of Insanity* Fallen The Passage* Disguise Portrait Daydreamer Dogma In Sorrow

Genre	Progressive Metal	Marco Basile	Vocals
Tracks	11	Simone Mularoni	Guitar
Running time	60 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Frontiers Music	Andrea Arcangeli	Bass
Release	August 26, 2016	Fabio Costantino	Drums
Country	Italy	Emanuele Casali	Keyboard
Producer	Simone Mularoni	Simone Mularoni	Keyboard
Similar artists	---

Despite the fact that DGM has released albums frequently for 2 decades, I have never heard one single note from the band before getting my hands on this one and already halfway through the second song I'm starting to wonder how I've been able to avoid listening to this Italian group over all these years (Probably because they're from Italy, I would say in lack of a valid explanation.), because I immediately find this to be an intriguing piece of music.

The Passage contains heavy guitars that are pushing their way forward in the sound-frame of progressive metal and I'm rather amazed by the overall performance. A lot of the songs are simply just appealing and I like the total production of the album, which in my ears brings forth the power and dynamics in the music. Playing-wise and technically seen this is no progressive metal in the vein of Dream Theater's highly proficient style and these guys set focus on coming out with extended parts where they keep the melody alive, both musically and vocally.

The vocal contribution of Marco Basile fits really well with the melodic appearance of the music. He's able to bring emotion and versatility to the songs without overplaying his part. His voice is in the right level of the mix too, which is such an important factor with these kind of metal records, because the vocals don't drown the instruments.

Will I immediately run out and buy the entire DGM catalogue now that I have discovered a band prior to this record unknown to me? Probably not, because a quick background check shows that the band today has no original members left and most of the lineup was changed about 10 years ago. The music is maybe quite different at this point in comparison to the early days, so I will most likely slowly and carefully work my way backwards through their albums one by one instead and see what may come out of it.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
8	6	8	8	7

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Tobbe