Short Reviews [DGM - 2023 - "Life"]

When I came across 2020’s ‘Tragic Separation’ from this Italian prog metal act I said I could not believe it had taken ten albums for me to come across them, as here was a band approaching the genre from AOR and with a heavy appreciation of Stratovarius. I wrote that review and put it on PA years ago, but somewhat incredibly there have been no others added to the site, and as I write about their most recent release, ‘Life’, that is currently sat with zero, so if ever a band was hitting well above their weight but also staying massively under the radar, then it is DGM. They released their debut all the way back in 1997, and although they do not have any original members still in the band, everyone involved has been there since at least 2008, while drummer Fabio Costantino actually joined in time for the second album, ‘Wings of Time’, from 1999. They never sound Italian, as they have a hugely American outlook to their music, and while it is highly polished they somehow stay on the right side of over-production, and with a powering rhythm section providing the foundation it really allows keyboard player Emanuele Casali to move between providing banks of sounds or duetting with guitarist Simone Mularoni, who is obviously hugely influenced by Yngwie J Malmsteen. It takes a lot to front a band with this much going on, but singer Mark Basile is in control throughout and is happy to let his emotions come through on the likes of power ballad “The Calling” or when the band is more ballistic and he can really show off his rock chops. There is no doubt that DGM are a band with a great deal to offer and I am really surprised they are not more widely appreciated as this is prog metal crossed with AOR which is of the hight order. True, the polish may be too much for some tastes, but to me this is yet another very powerful release indeed which will surely gain them many more fans.