DOMINICI – everyone who likes Progressive Metal has set this name in stone concerning Dream Theater. This genius singer performed the vocals on the famous debut album When Dream And Day Unite. In this case I really like name dropping, otherwise I would not have come across this group; and Mr. Charlie D. does credit to his well known denomination, supported by an egregious playing band conjuring many fantastic melodies out of their instruments. First and foremost guitarist Brian Maillard being in no way inferior to his colleague John Petrucci, Brian has got lots of powerful chords in his repertoire, but he is also able to pluck the strings smoothly if the song demands for it in this moment. The diversified drum work is another brownie point and of course the keyboard is on board too. Last mentioned is used in an appropriate, song oriented way and not at all corny or obtrusively.
The opening track The Monster makes a living without vocals and shows the whole spectrum in DOMINICI’s music: speed and rhythms are varied skillfully, so that there is always space enough left for some surprises despite the quite long compositions. I appreciate that the detailed and technical tracks do not get disrupted by a bunch of breaks. The band takes care to compose songs with a thread. DOMINICI remind me of diverse other bands of similar tendency, of course Dream Theater comes to my mind because of the powerful voice, but also Queen in some borne passages or even Manowar during the ballad The Real Life left their mark. Last mentioned number is exaggerated in my opinion concerning pathetic sounds as well as the lyrics scratching orotundity’s mark. This one is the only negative criticism regarding the second trilogy’s part. Mostly the mood seems to be aggressive during O3 A Trilogy - Part 2, caused by the lyrics dealing with the fortunes of an alcohol addict – the music is brought into agreement and consequently hefty rocking Prog-Metal.
The content and the musical performance commemorate of Savatage’s rock opera Streets – and this should be taken as huge compliment. Especially Greed, The Evil Seed sounds heavy and rough with regard to the vocal use. The solo guitar part seems to get out of hand, but fits in perfectly and as a consequence no impression of a solo only for god’s sake arises. The interspersed acoustic interlude clinks beautifully. Thus DOMINICI manage to keep up the tension during the short of an hour playing time.
In the meantime spoken parts provide for loosening, so that O3 A Trilogy - Part 2 gets a good mark in the end. The perfect mixture of technique, melody appreciation and powerful catchiness contribute to this positive judgment importantly. Closing song A New Hope works well, too - and therefore I can argue for recommendation with a clear conscience.