(Melodic Progressive/Power Metal) Sea of Dreams - Land Of Flames - 1998, MP3, 320 kbps

Imagine putting together a band that plays like a mixture of Ingwe Malmsteen, Helloween, and Kansas. That is, imagine a band that plays both classically influenced metal, power metal, and progressive rock with a hint of jazz. Add epic length songs that average around 8 minutes and include a variety of melodies. Some of those melodies come from classical masters, some come from the Far East, others are unique. You might even add that the band has a flair for improvisation, like a late night television band. When you put all these diverse elements together you have Norway's Sea Of Dreams.

The end result is a very complex body of work that demonstrates a band that must be very talented, because few bands could play such a combination of styles and shift back and forth so smoothly. Not since Tourniquet's "Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance" have I heard such a musically technical and diverse band. In short, Sea Of Dreams sound a lot like a classic metal band from Sweden with a progressive undercurrent.

The band is made up of Trond Are, guitarist extraordinaire. His playing is very much in line with the Malmsteen comparison. He is quite the virtuoso. John Martin Haarr plays bass and also fretless bass. The fretless bass is used in the jazzy sections and shows that he is equal to the challenge. Jorgen Manke adds a classic touch on keyboards. Svein Harald Kleppe is the drummer that holds all the diverse musical pieces together. Without him it is doubtful that Sea Of Dreams could pull off all the musical changes in their songs. Finally, Jim Foss is the singer. His voice is an extremely high pitched soprano. At times on the first CD his voice wears a little thin, but this problem is corrected on "Land Of Flames".
(from http://www.geocities.com/criticaltom_2000)

Jim Lynwood Foss - lead vocals
Trond Are - guitars, flute, munnharpe and backing vocals
Jorgen Manke - keyboards, percussion and backing vocals
John Martin Haarr - bass, taurus and backing vocals
Svein Harald Kleppe - drums and percussion