Dreamaker is the new band from ex Dark Moor members Elisa Martin, Albert Marato, and Jorge Saez. I don’t know about the other two, but in the interim between their departure from Dark Moor Elisa has recorded with the group Fairyland which may help get some more fans to check out Dreamaker. The music on their debut Human Device is not as symphonic as Dark Moor, or Fairyland for that matter, rather it is more of a stripped down, basic guitars and drums type of Power Metal with keyboards being used to create atmosphere and give an extra push here and there to songs instead of being in the foreground as synthetic strings or orchestral instrumentation. A surprise to hear, especially considering Elisa’s outings with Fairyland. Speaking of Elisa, she is the best part of Human Device. Her voice is strong, clear and unique and stands out on every album that she has been a part of this being no exception. She is the driving force on the choruses and also is a large part of the hook factor on the songs where the music occasionally bogs down.

When I say bogs down I mainly mean the first two real tracks, The Eye of War and Nightmares Factory. Other than a spicy beat to the latter these two openers do nothing for me, they get lost in typicality and standard fare. Taking a much brighter turn however the album picks up the slack beginning with the midtempo Without Angels. A very simplistic and almost danceable guitar riff (think Angra Rainy Nights) makes this very enjoyable and satisfying. One of the few fast songs is next with Killing, and while also being on of the only fast numbers on here it also reminds me of a bit of Stratovarius with the keyboard work in the intro. A strong hummable chorus and an anthemic guitar solo push this song to the top. While the rest of the album continues along in a medium jaunt there are several noticeable highlights. Two cuts which one would think are ballads from the titles, Forever in Your Arms and Eternal Love end up being Power Metal tracks with hard rock leanings. The more aggressive side of Dreamaker come out with Welcome to My Hell and the last song before the closing instrumental Crystalline Eyes. Both of these have a more biting edge to them than the rest of the tracks and Elisa almost seems angry when she’s belting out the lines to them. In my opinion, a great way to round out the album.

Human Device is a solid, all around entertaining album. There aren’t too many parts that stand out high above the rest on here, although with the high quality standard of the music that’s not necessarily such a bad thing. I am happy with Dreamaker and the path they have chosen to take, with time they can only get better.