Ethereal Metal Webzine

Review by Ryan Murray | May 8, 2020 | Official Band Facebook

Dakesis, a progressive metal band from Birmingham, UK that formed in 2008, just released their third full length album “Fractures” on March 28th, 2020. 

While I’ve never heard of this band before, I really like progressive metal a lot, and this band doesn’t disappoint! With great instrumentation and great vocals, this full-length feature makes a definite statement!

This band reminds me musically of bands such as Visions of Atlantis, Symphony X and Dream Theatre.

Eos 
This epic, ethereal and mysterious intro really grabs me right away. With the sound of waves rolling in, combined with strings, this beautiful instrumental builds right into the second track effortlessly.  

Ends of Time Pt. 1
This song starts off as a seamless extension of Eos. Right away this track shows a glimpse of what to expect out of this album.

This whole song has a great groove! I really feel like the whole band really seems to lock in with each other right away. The vocals really add a whole new level, as they can be really powerful one moment, and subtle the next. An exceptionally good mix all around.

This song, for me, is about how we write our future and that we shouldn’t let anyone tell us that we can’t do whatever it is that we set our minds to doing. 

“The future holds an empty page
Stories unfold without a name
Heroes untold, now fade away
As we move towards a new age.”

This line really communicates a lot to me. We are the author of our future. We need to seek out whatever it is that we want to do in our future, and we can’t let anything or anyone act as a barrier to accomplishing our goals!

Ends of Time Pt. 2
I really like this one a lot! I get Symphony X vibes all throughout this one. Absolutely love the groove! The music is really tight and sits in that “pocket” perfectly! The intro to this one is an instrumental groove that just keeps building on itself until 2:34 when the vocals come in. The vocals are great on this one! I honestly can’t say enough good things about this track!  

Lyrically, and in title of course, this song seems to follow up on the thoughts of EoT Pt. 1.

“If the darkness takes me
Rise up, dominate
Things will be, as they will be
Now say a final farewell
Only the ends of time will tell
Does a new world await?”

We can’t change our past, no matter how dark it may be. With our eyes to the future though, we can dominate that darkness when we write our future, go for it full force, and obtain it! 

Overthrown
Ok, so this track has a lot going on that I really enjoy! I absolutely love the time changes throughout this track! I also absolutely love the strings! The vocals in this one are again really great! 

To me, this song dives into our fears and how they can imprison us if we give them power over us.

“Black waters rise
A mirrored sheen to mesmerize
Frozen fast, these chains of ice
Now all around I see
Our fears reflecting back at me
Take the wind from my sails”

Fear can make us feel chained and frozen in place. When we face them head on, they can “take the wind from our sails”.  As we reflect on our fears and face them head on, we realize that they are just lies meant to deceive us and meant to “freeze” us in place. 

Kairos
The strings in the intro for this one gives it a pretty epic start! This song has a really catchy groove throughout. 

For me, this song is about what we do with our time. 

“When worlds collide
You know it’s do or die
We rise and fall but through it all
The truth can’t be denied
There is more to this existence
Than the path of least resistance
The lies we spin to reach our end”

Sometimes we want to just take the comfortable and easy way out. It’s comfortable, so we become complacent and take the “path of least resistance”.  
We have a limited time here on earth, and what we do with that time will forever define us. There’s three things on a grave stone – your birthdate, your death date and a dash. What will you do with your dash? 

Surrender Your Fears
Another epic intro and I absolutely love the guitars here! Don’t get too comfortable though! From the beginning of this track through 3:22, there is a consistent build within the music, but just when you think you know where the track is heading, starting at 3:24 through 5:45, we get a really nice instrumental with strings and tribal like percussion. This continues to build beautifully with non-lyrical vocalizing throughout!

This one, for me, is again about what we do with our fears. 

“Surrender your fears
Now you’ll see
Now we’ll be
Come sands of time – (Come sands of time)
Can we unwind
Can we Ignite
Can we unite”

We need to surrender our fears and face them head on to get through them. Fear can paralyze us if we allow it to. This song, for me, is about uniting against our fears and facing them head on.

Hold Forever
I feel like each song just gets better and better! This song starts out with a very pulled back and ethereal sounding intro. Then percussion hits with an almost tribal like feel, followed by strings and guitar which add an amazing groove and atmosphere! I absolutely love this intro!

For me, this song is about our past and being careful not to forget who we are and where we come from. It’s also about our time and what we chose to do with it.

“Moments in time, lost forever
Once forgotten, the ties that we sever
With regret or to never look back
Breaking away, memories forbidden
No pity sought, no comfort given
Like the sands in the hourglass”

Legacy In Memory
This track starts off with just keyboards. The intro honestly reminds me of the keyboard intro from Tarja’s “Kuin Henkäys Ikuisuutta”. The strings really add an amazing feel to this song. 

Also, I can’t help but to hear Nightwish’s “Slow, Love, Slow” at the end of the first chorus before the second verse (at 1:36) and again at the end of the second chorus (at 2:44)!  

This song seems to be about remembering those who have gone before us and remembering what they’ve left behind. It also seems to be about making the most of the time we have and not taking our time here for granted. 

“Now will never come again
Find strength to know, that It’s not the end
So I will go on, remembering those long gone
Every now and then”

Fractures
The final track! At just over 15 minutes, this epic track is an amazing ending to a great album! While this is a progressive metal album, I can’t help but to hear some soul in the vocals as well! It’s really an amazing mix!  I love everything about this song. I hear Dream Theatre vibes throughout on the guitars too!

“By the price of blinded apathy
When power transcends morality
And when…..and when, will we learn
The cost of human fallacy
And from the skies I see
The consequence of vanity
A false state of reality
The fractures of humanity”

This song seems to be about rising above what is deemed as popular to do what’s right. Words are in vanity when not backed by action.  

It also seems to be about having purpose and being able to identify that purpose and act on it.

“We are made of stars
Waiting to be known
Cross celestial shores
Are we still alone
Fractures
Fractures”

Overall, I have to give this album a 4.5 out of 5.0! I loved everything about this album – down to the guitars, percussion, string arrangements, time changes, vocals, overall arrangements, and balance and more! The album seems to be mixed rather well also! I was honestly surprised to see the streams only in the 1k area on Spotify. I’m very impressed with this band and will be giving their other full lengths a listen as well!

If you haven’t checked out “Fractures” by Dakesis yet, you’re truly missing out!  Please give it a listen!