(Melodic Gothic Metal) Diminished 7 - Dim World - 2009, MP3 (tracks), 320 kbps

DIMINISHED 7 is a gothic metal band created by Alex Crescioni. Its atmosphere is orchestrated to the dance of a burning rose.
The debut album “DIM WORLD” displays tracks presenting a blend of 7 string guitar riffs and melancholic synths and vocal melodies.
"DIMINISHED7 makes me dream of worlds beyond reality, Places we only see in dreams and movies. From Start to finish it takes me away from this hell of a world and puts me in a place I want to be in forever!" -JaMeson JaYmz
http://www.facebook.com/diminished7#!/diminished7?v=info
http://www.myspace.com/diminished7

Written by eclipsion1 on February 8th, 2010
Diminished 7 is the creation of one Alex Crescioni, and an initially surprising one for anyone familiar with his work. Dim World is his first release under the Diminished 7 moniker.
Coming out of the proverbial left field in comparison to his previous output (with Los Angeles area technical death metal outfits Crushing Skulls and Reciprocal, among others), what we have here is a record chock full of melody, somewhat more conventional song structures, clean vocals, and hooks galore while still retaining a definite metal feel. That in itself could easily indicate an exercise in the predominantly stale "heard it before" category, were it not for an obviously determined effort to forge his own sound. Staying true to a do-it-yourself-attitude, everything here is written and performed solely by Crescioni, which makes the execution on each respective instrument that much more impressive. His vocals in particular are very melodic and strong, with each successive listen seeming to reveal something you didn't hear before. The guitars are crushingly heavy at times, but never overbearing to the ears. Keys are fairly subtle in their scope, usually taking a backseat to the aforementioned vocals. Drums and bass are relatively simplistic in nature, but are well-suited rhythmically to the style being played. Overall, the material is flawlessly executed, diverse enough to keep the listeners attention throughout, and boasts an very well balanced mix with a full sounding production (also courtesy of the album's creator). It becomes readily apparent that a lot of time and hard work went into the creation of this album, and it shines from the effort.
Dim World contains ten tracks, two of which are short instrumentals. Each song has it's own identity, however a dominant sense of cohesiveness runs throughout the album. Vocals generally tend to take the spotlight, typically highlighting Crescioni's range and accurate sense of key and harmony. Most of the lyrics reside in the gothic realm of things, but they are well written so as not to come off as the cheese some bands (I'll not take liberty to mention here) "compose". On several songs, a short melody from the guitars or the keys will appear as a compliment to the song. These are never overly complex nor overdone, which may come as a surprise to people familiar with the stylistic leanings of his former bands (90% or more of the debut from Reciprocal was written by this guy-he can seriously shred). On occasion growled death metal vocals, varied time signatures, and/or double bass drumming (among other surprises) surface to give the album a lot of variation and keep it from ever growing repetitive. Admittedly, this all sounds great, but is fairly irrelevant without material that resonates with the listener. Fortunately, the material on Dim World is, for lack of a better term, catchy as hell. This is fundamentally what will catch most people's ear: every single song will make have you humming along at one time or another. The chorus sections in several songs alone are worth the price of this album. Personal favorites are: Sleep In Shadows (best chorus on the album), Midnight Divine, In Fear Of The End Of Days, and Taste A Vampire, though I imagine if a video or single is to be released it will be She Lost Her Heart In Hollywood. It seems tailor-made for it.
While I can't say it's absolutely perfect (what is?), this is an extremely well written and performed album of melodic gothic metal that is definitely worth the price of admission. I don't normally even listen to this particular style of music, but I find this album seems to be on perpetual rotation ever since I received it. When Crescioni finds a capable group of musicians to perform his music with, I can't imagine it will take long before you see them everywhere. Well done sir.
http://www.diminished7.bigcartel.com/product/diminished-7-dim-world

Alex Crescioni - Vocals
Chase Brickenden - Drums
Kyle Konkiel - Bass
Ariel Mann - Guitar