Album Review: Tides Of Man - Dreamhouse

It’s hard to find a band that features technical yet beautiful instrumentals and a vocalist that matches the caliber of the instruments. Yet, Tides of Man seem to have no trouble pulling this off. Their latest release, 'Dreamhouse', shows off the musical prowess of the band as a whole, while continuing to display their characteristic sound and flair for putting things together.

'Dreamhouse' begins with “Not My Love 2,” a “part-two” track that immediately grabs you with vocalist Tilian Pearson’s powerful voice, and then kind of breaks free with a frenzy of guitars and drums that provides a strong start to the album, and is one of the most memorable tracks on the album. Another great track off of this album is “Salamanders and Worms.” This song has this rolling, almost flowing sound that the band is experts at creating. This flow is then broken up with staccato vocals and instruments, which highlights the band’s talent and putting together different pieces of music and making them work perfectly together.

It is interesting to note how this album has been mixed. The vocals are noticeably quieter than the instruments. This works for, rather than against, Tides of Man’s dynamics. Pearson has a unique voice that could easily steal the show, yet the instrumentals are so creative and intricate, so by making them more of the focus than the vocals, a nice balance is struck. This album is very instrument-centric, and there are many musical interludes that illustrate this.

The vocals, however, shouldn’t be dismissed because they aren’t always at the forefront of this album. Pearson’s voice is clear and has a unique tone that gives it tons of character. There are beautiful, personal lyrics on this album, like on “Echoes,” a semi-creepy song in which Pearson sings, '“I'll keep breathing, just as though your stench doesn't exist/As though your lips I'd never kissed, wounds I'd never licked/I would have died swinging my fists.” The songs (and Pearson’s voice) are poetic and emotional, and the music that accompanies them is just as so.

The only negative aspect of this album is that Tides of Man have a very “signature” sound, one in which you may be able to identify them by only a few seconds of listening. While this creates a great continuity and coherence for this album, it borders on similarity, which in turn borders on boring. They thankfully keep it different enough to stay away from boring, but the danger is there for some listeners to lose interest after a first listen, because the songs may not be distinct enough from each other. There is also the lack of raspy scream from Pearson that was present in their previous release 'Empire Theory', which would have given the band an intensity that could have given way to diversity.

Tides of Man really show that they have talent worth recognizing in 'Dreamhouse.' Their talent for putting things together is kind of like a puzzle: within each song there are very different parts, yet they all seem to fit together to create a whole song. The instrumentals are creative and energetic, and Pearson’s voice fits expertly within them. This album, while sometimes losing steam and sounding similar, is an example of ability and expertise that should be appreciated.

4/5

'Dreamhouse' by Tides of Men is available now on Rise Records.

Tides of Men on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.

Jenny Baeur