Reviews for Horizons
New England Performer Magazine, April 1994
Three and One-Quarter Stars
Gosh, I love this kind of stuff. It's cool to write, fun to play, easy to engineer, and satisfying to produce. We're talkin' a zone located near Rush, Metallica, even Emerson Lake and Palmer. It's not the largest selling catalog section for most labels, but it does grab a few fistfuls of cash. These folks do it all exceptionally well. The songs have a touch of mystery ladled over the majestic mountains of metal. The guitar player is shreddingly heavy, the drums are perfect, the vocalist has lyrics, range, power and feel, and the other couple gothic warriors don't make any boo-boos. The band sounds fabulous and should keep churning out the steel. One-a-these days, they may stumble upon one of those mega-smash songs necessary to sign and carry. Yours in darkness and light (gee maybe I could be a heavy metal lyricist). -L.A. Joe
Foster's Daily Democrat, Showcase section, February 1994
Dover's Divine Regale consists of Dwight Hill on vocals, Jason Keazer on keyboards, Shawn Marcotte on bass, Chris Anderson on drums, and Dan Elliott and Gary Leighton on guitars.
Among the bands list of accomplishments are a 1992 self-titled debut release, an upcoming story in New England Performer, and opening performances for national headliners, Dream Theater.
More recently, band members have been gearing up for a late March release of their new compact disc and cassette entitled, "Horizons."
I got together with Dan Elliot and Chris Anderson to discuss their music.
LIVEWIRE: Guys, could you describe your style for us?
DAN: We try to make the music as interesting as we can, without going overboard.
CHRIS: We try not to lose the context of a good song when we write. Our music is more straight forward compared to the alternative style. When the term alternative originated, it described bands that were different from most. Now, everyone is alternative, so I guess that leaves us to be the band that is actually different.
DAN: We put a lot of thought into our music. Where as some bands can write three songs in one night, it might take us a week to perfect one particular time change or arrangement.
CHRIS: We feel our music is a lot more complex than most of the music that is popular at the moment.
DAN: We're not jumping on any trendy band wagon, not to discredit anyone, but a lot of local bands are similar in style. We like to describe what we do as progressive rock. We feel that in that sense, we are completely original in our area.
LIVEWIRE: How do you feel about the music scene in our area?
CHRIS: I think the local scene has lost its direction. You can tell who has been around and who's copying them.
DAN: We're friends with or have played with a lot of local bands. We love to go see most of them, but they wouldn't go out of their way to see a band like ours.
CHRIS: So, with the release of our first tape, we had to play outside of our area. With the release of our new tape, we're looking forward to establishing a stronger local following and gaining more support for our genre of rock.
Metal Hammer Magazine, Germany, September 1994
This 5-song CD of the formation Divine Regale can best be described as a sensation. Even the packaging with the great cover artwork is representative for Horizons and the music on this CD. Divine Regale play very sensitive and intense music which isolates you from the outside world. I haven't such a pretentious and sensitive song like the title track for years. If you are into bands like Dream Theater or Fates Warning, you cannot continue life without having heard Divine Regale's Horizons.
New England Performer Magazine, July 1994
Divine Regale: New Blood by Rick Schettino
Do what you love to do, do it the best you can, and see who stands up and salutes is my credo for a finicky and judgmental music business. Dover, New Hampshire's Divine Regale shares this philosophy and puts it into practice in their quest for the holy grail of rock stardom.
In February of 1993, I wrote of Divine Regale's first four-song demo tape, "Timeless mythical, philosophical and psychological themes, a heavy atmosphere, and classic vocal technique are the hallmarks of a great gothic metal band...Add to this dynamics, superb arrangements, stinging dual guitars, and a meaty rhythm section and the sum total is quite impressive." I'm pretty sure that at the time, not one of the members was even in their twenties.
In late August of 1993, Divine Regale consisting at the time of guitarists Daniel Elliott and Gary Leighton, drummer Chris Anderson, and vocalist Dwight Hill, enlisted the services of bassist Shawn Marcotte and keyboardist Jason Keazer, returned to the studio with Producer/Engineer Jim Lightman at Metropolis Recording, and by the end of September had completed three songs. In October they recorded two additional cuts. By the end of 1993 they had completed mix-downs. They then mastered the five-songs for CD at MWorks and had a finished product ready by March of 1994, one year and one month later. I wish I had shown that kind of step-by-step fortitude and persistence when I was nineteen!
In an era where this type of high-brow, progressive metal is the alternative to the norm, Divine Regale are focusing their battle plans on places where their style is in high demand (Germany for instance, where there is already some interest in the band), and also hoping to gain some ground locally. Support has started to flow in the form of glowing reviews for Horizons - which NEP's L.A. Joe described so poetically as "A touch of mystery ladled over majestic mountains of metal."
Divine Regale describe their sound as "technical yet melodic...Thought provoking, intelligent lyrics set to powerful, emotional music."
The CD released via the bands own Whin Chin-Chin Productions, opens with the one minute, five second foreboding instrumental "Dawn". The title track follows with a look into the future to foretell potential memories and retrospective perceptions of the past. "Underworld" deftly compares the life of a young hero in gothic mythology and the fight against the forces of darkness to the life of youth today dealing with danger and desolation in a civilized world. whilst between the lines besieging one not to ignore the poverty-stricken and sown-trodden. This is followed by the nebulously lyrical "Missing" and an eight minute epic entitled "Fear the Storm", a musical prophecy of Mother Nature's revenge on a ravenous, over-industrialized human race. It is an extremely well-crafted piece of literature ending in, "Off in the distance, the man on the moon, a silent witness". The music is tightly arranged and complex with dual harmonized guitars interwoven with atmospheric, melodic keyboard lines and textures over an ominous rhythm section.
On an interesting tangent, drummer Chris Anderson was asked by Lightman to record using a click track, which Anderson practiced with for a week before the session. When the time came to record the basic tracks, things weren't happening. Anderson suggested that he might record the drums without the rest of the band. "He played all the songs perfectly one after another - by himself!" chimed Lightman. "It was great. We opened up the doors and put a mic in the hall and got a really huge sound."
With the band's youthful lineup, just-do-it attitude, and willingness to learn about the business they are in, Divine Regale are ready to do battle with the invisible, uncertain future with high hopes and true bravado as stated in the tag line of the title cut "Climb abroad the wind. Set your sights beyond what lies upon the horizon." Hopefully, we'll see them there.
Void of Tolerance Fanzine, 1994
Divine Regale are exactly as their moniker implies, playing classic mid-80s progressive power metal with great, inspiring bands such as Fates Warning, Savatage, Dream Theater and Queensryche as their building blocks for their intricate and highly emotional style of music. This six piece, the norm plus keyboardist, take immense pride in their musicianship, showcasing loads of individual talent which is then fused into one great unification of minds, bodies and souls. With each and every song, you can almost physically see the sentient aura, radiating like some illustrious fragrance in a crowded elevator for everyone, no matter how sense-numb, to sample. Probably the most important aspect of a band playing in this style is the singer, for without the classically trained, high pitched vocable, voxman Dwight Hill in this case, it may be confused for thrash by some retards and eradicates the needed elegance of said style. Song for song, this is one helluva independent release. Captured immediately in the profound production is the delicate instrumental "Dawn," then leads into the slightly heavier, yet equally exquisite title cut. Very Dream Theater-ish in its start, "Underworld" is a veritable lesson in songwriting, peaking nicely where epicness should be combined with the far reaching musicality this band is entrenched in. The background of these tunes are filled by keyboards to the point where they almost go unnoticed unless you concentrate on them, but all the while you're forgetting about them they're creating a world-transcending ambiance for each track. "Missing" and the multi faceted "Fear the Storm" finish this "demo" with nothing but kudos. Exceptional lyrics based on the mystical/philosophical are a welcome bonus as is the color inlay. The only thing I would attempt to improve would be the creation of more intense/epic proportions, such as a spine jarring chorus or a prime emotional backdrop for a pre chorus, but for now merely stands as one of the most professional, focused and mature independent released I've heard in quite some eons.
Screams From the Gutter Fanzine, 1994
Upon the opening instrumental to the first song I knew I was hooked, even before knowing what type of music the band played. At most, a highly energetic, emotional type sound in the music played. I was apprehensive to what the vocals would sound like since the music was outstanding, but I grew to admire them, the closest I could come in who they reminded my of was STRYPER, yes STRYPER, vocals flowed like a stream, moving slowly but picking up velocity at times. Music is played at an acceptable level of brilliance. Nothing too whinny, nor too harsh. I especially like the keyboards on this release. Over all sound is mystically moody, highly energetic in feelings, and rhythmically correct. Lyrics are thought provoking and tells a story, a high mark in letting the music create the scene of the lyrics. If I scaled the music from 1 to 5 (5 being highest), this would be a 4.75, being that .25 means not enough music to enjoy!
Prognosis, Issue Number 1
Sometimes you meet the most interesting people when you trade on the music boards on the Internet. Such was the case when I hooked up with someone by the screen name of 'Parallels' and I got more than I bargained for! To my surprise, after several on-line messages, I found out that 'Parallels' is the drummer with an up-and-coming progressive metal band out of New Hampshire called Divine Regale, who have an independently produced EP to their credit.
Divine Regale is a six-piece band consisting of Dwight Hill (vocals), Jason Keazer (keyboards), Gary Leighton (guitar), Daniel Elliott (guitar), Shawn Marcotte (bass), and Chris Anderson, aka 'Parallels' (drums/vocals).
After I received a copy of the band's EP Horizons, I gave it a whirl in my CD player. From the first eerie strains of "Dawn" to the finale "Fear the Storm," I knew then and there that this band had some kind of chemistry working for them! As I listened to powerful songs like "Horizons" and "Underworld," I felt the way I did when I first listened to Queensryche's "The Warning" album--amazed! This band has the potential to become the best prog, metal find since Dream Theater (did I say that?)! (ED-did he say that?!) What's even more scary is that I don't think some of these guys are old enough to buy beer!
There are strong vocals and songwriting skills, reminiscent of Crimson Glory, in addition to dueling guitar leads and a great rhythm section. With all this, Divine Regale is halfway to progressive metal heaven! However, the only drawback is that the keyboards are a little overshadowed by the other instruments, and the EP could have used a few 'up-tempo' songs to make it complete. But, rest assured, the next album is said to contain a new onslaught of music that will cause some serious head turning (or should I say head banging!)
A small side note: Divine Regale has, in the past, opened up for Dream Theater when DT has toured in New Hampshire-- not bad! If that's not enough to make you want to hear the CD, then how does a possible record deal sometime in the near future sound?
Review Rating, "Hey! This is WAY cool!"