Hailing from Germany Dante formed back in 2006 band if I say that the quartet decided to work together after attending a Dream Theater then you may get some sort of idea of the music that the band deliver with this, their debut offering.

Based on good The Giving And The Taking actually is how the band remain unsigned is pretty much a mystery as Dante deliver something which is right up their with the likes of Dream Theater and their peers in terms of quality. The songs are uniformly good is terms of the musicianship and song writing without being overtly heavy for the sake of heaviness alone. With influences ranging from Porcupine Tree, Spocks Beard, Symphony X & Threshold to name but a handful this is an album that is firmly planted in the prog metal mould. Alexander Göhs has an excellent,  almost understated voice that is tailor made for the material without resorting to some of the high pitch histrionics that is common in the genre. Not only well played The Giving & The Taking is equally well produced, if slightly underpowered in places and, for a project that was completely self recorded and funded, the whole package is thoughtfully put together. The highlight here is the tour de force closing track, The Giving & The Taking itself. Split into two parts it clocks in at a whopping twenty three minutes in length and yet it flies by and never seems to outstay it's welcome. Should a record company pick up on Dante and provide them with the funding and distribution they richly deserve based on this effort then this could be the start of something very special indeed.

Contact: www.dantemusic.de

Dougie