DREAM INTO DUST - FRAGMENTS OF LEGACY

Dream Into Dust is an industrial project with many subgenre dives including gothic, neofolk, experimental, noise, and martial industrial. The project was born in 1997 and has released three albums, three EPs, and has been included on a dozen compilations. Their Autumn 2020 release is the subject of today's review, and it is a fifteen track album containing tracks recorded for compilations from 1998 to 2001 that have been remastered. The album also includes four previously unreleased songs. Dream Into Dust has stated that the album "shows the development between the album 'The World We Have Lost' (1999) and 'The Lathe Of Heaven' (2003)." What I got out of "Fragments of Legacy", however, is a cinematic blend of horror-film sounding tracks utilizing elements of dark ambient, noise, and industrial textures.

The five-minute and fifty-two second track 'Stormbringer' kicks off the album. Each clash of bass brings about a bit of crunchy static as far-off war drums bang in the background. Well sung chords bring an element of mysticism, and a truly battle-ready hymn emerges during the final moments of the piece. 'The Man Who Disappeared' features spoken word vocals paired with what sounds like an old record being spun in a black and white movie. I was not a huge fan of this track as I felt as if it was hard to hear what the narrator was saying; the music and static is forward in the track while I believe it should have been the opposite. The vocals should be in the front so I don't have to strain my ears so much to hear them. 



'Totestadt' brought me back into Dream Into Dust's horrifying world, and I imagine myself exploring an old and haunted mineshaft whilst listening to this song. There's atmospheric cavernous sound, a piano plays beautifully, and creaks and other oddities fill out the rest of the in between noise. Very, very well done on this one. The first minute of 'The Dread World Born In Sleep' is a standard, minimal dark ambient affair, and it is not until after that that I am placed back into Dream Into Dust's intense and layered soundscape. Around the two-minute and ten-second mark, spoken word comes into play again. However, it sounds less human and more devilish or otherworldly, as if I were listening to a sermon from a Cthulu cultist. Multi-layered vocals and bubbling occurs during this presentation, and it gives me the chills.

It is easy to see the industrial influences on 'Die Schichtaenderung', as light mechanized beats play underneath all of the hazy walls. What sounds like reversed whispering begins off 'Field of Night', but I felt as if this effect overstayed its welcome. It's not until around the one-minute and fifteen-second mark that acoustic guitar played along with other experimental sounds. Again, it's a good starting point, but it doesn't need to be dragged on so long. Once the song gets going, however, I was in love. While 'Somnolent' is well done, I also found it to be one of the more standard tracks. Though it does contain haunting electronics, it pales in comparison to the other tracks found on "Fragments of Legacy". 

'The Chariot' is the first song on the album that fully embraces martial industrial. War drums slam throughout the entirety of the piece; while listening to this song I felt as if I should stop writing and prepare for bloodshed. I don't have much to say about 'Out of Chaos Stars Are Born'. I have similar feelings of it as I did 'Somnolent'; not a bad dark ambient piece but it sounds flat when compared to other songs on the album. Low, rumbling pieces and heightened, suspenseful strings take over on 'Ghosts of Impotent Dreams'. I loved the build-up on 'At the Heart of the White Rose'; towards the end we get a wonderful ballad of acoustic guitar, what sounds like a didgeridoo, string instruments, and well placed percussion. This is all backed by, of course, Dream Into Dust's experimental noise. 

An inhalation and exhalation starts off 'Morpheus', but I once again draw comparisons to both 'Somnolent' and 'Out of Chaos Stars Are Born'. It's well produced, but it's just a standard dark ambient track. The demonic, spoken word vocals make a return in it which are more than welcome, but this is not a song that I will want to come back to. 'London' utilizes neoclassical works that fit with the iconic city, but there's an underlying dark tone to the song. That's in part due to the spoken word vocals that talks of mankind's weakness and so much more. Spooky and well done. 'Invictus' shows Dream Into Dust taking up martial industrial to create a solid piece of battle-ready hymns. The final track on the album 'The Trial Invisible' is the only one which really shows how gorgeous Dream Into Dust's vocals can be; very well sung chords laid over punchy hits and acoustic guitar. 

While the songs on "Fragments of Legacy" are stated to have been recorded between 1998 and 2001, Dream Into Dust's remaster of the songs bring them into the modern age. I would not have known they were twenty-plus years of age had it not been listed on the Bandcamp page. There are a lot of dastardly pieces on here, roaming between what I consider to be the calamity of war to occult horror and general creepiness. The songs 'Morpheus', 'Somnolent', and 'Out of Chaos Stars Are Born' are three songs that I do not wish to hear again, but that still leaves me with twelve other songs that I can generally enjoy, minus some bits here and there. What this album has done for me, however, is peak a certain curiosity revolving around Dream Into Dust. I am quite curious to see what the band will do next. Seven and a half out of ten! 

This review was commissioned through our Ko-fi page.
May 31 2021