One of the longer running Tuetonic riff quake outfits, German trio Dreaming return with an eight song feast of psychedelic old school Doom that manages to both bust out some seriously skilled melodic hooks and have that vibe of mutant weirdness that so many European trad doom bands seem to be afflicted with. Which we're obviously all about. Of course this brand of Sabbathian metal is all about the riffs, and guitarist/singer/team leader Sandro Uhlmann brings 'em, slow sludgy and catchy, descended straight from the seed of Saint Vitus but tied together with some sorta wonky arrangements that keep things interesting. And hooks man, GREAT hooks, just about every song is hum-along catchy. Really catchy. Alot catchier than most bands of this ilk, I've been listening to this all month and at this point it's become my fave new trad doom album for this winter, a killer, wierdo dose of classic heavy Doom Metal chug, occasional drunken pub singalongs, and blotter wrapped guitar freakouts. The German accents are strong, and most of the time Uhlmann's stoic vocals sound like Wino singing through a Scottish brogue, which I think sounds fucking nuts, in the best way possible. And dig those ridiculous/awesome backup vocals on """"Summer Of The Horse"""", which sounds to me like nothin' else than The Obsessed getting backed up by early AC/DC style Oi! chants. It's kinda goofy, but totally rocking and badass and catchy as fuck, all at the same time. And I'll be damned if album closer 'Birth Means Defeat' isn't one of the greatest downer anthems of the New Century, from the song's epic, stuck-in-mud central Sabbath riff to the way that the second half of the track abruptly turns into an amazing, unexpected post-rock riff ellipse that fells like it was transported straight out of 1992 Louisville. Old school doom heads looking for something a bit different should really dig this album. As weird as they get sometimes, this is still firmly in the discipline of classic MD doom, Vitus, Place of Skulls, Witchfinder General, and even early Masters of Reality.