A Perfect Ending

Occasionally an album cover captures the mood of an album accurately. This is definitely the case of Dreamend’s self-titled release. The chaos of their cover is controlled, and everything fits together in a sort of universe constructed by the band. Similarly, their album is controlled chaos. Individually, the tracks are crazy and hectic. However, when they are put together they make perfect sense and create a mood that is hard to penetrate.

Hailing from Savannah, Dreamend is an exciting group signed to Graveface Records. Dreamend fits the mold of a typical Graveface signing, as the band makes shoegaze music defined by their use of prominent and heavy percussion and drums combined with textured guitar samples. This self-titled album is the musical project of Ryan Graveface, the man behind Graveface Records. Suffering from a chronic condition that is killing his hearing, this is likely the last album Dreamend creates so Graveface can focus on his store and label.

The album features the dreamy “A Year and a Day,” a track driven by its thumping drums. Complemented by dreamy vocals and lyrics, the track sucks you in before slowly building up to a controlled chaos of wacky guitars and heavy but controlled drumming. On “Falling,” the band creates another track that adds to the moody feel of the album. After a quick buildup of rolling guitars and drums, distant sounding vocals kick in and serve as the perfect complement to the consistent melody created by the band.

On the slow “In Tune We Rest,” the band stays true to their formula and once again delivers a soft yet powerful performance. Guided by the steady pounding of drums and the slow drone of backing guitars, the band asks “why can’t you stay?” The mood of the entire album is captured in this track, and the result is a stunning song that makes you hope Dreamend will stick around — one would only hope a group with such consistent output will stay making music. This album is a testimony to how well Dreamend can carry out a vision.