Cyclopean Walls: “Enter the Dreamlands” (29 October 2021, Steel Gallery Records)

Cyclopean Walls is a Progressive Metal band founded in 2019, by the Greek guitarist Yiannis Tziallas, in Paris. The band released in 2020 its first work, the EP “Embrace the Mythos”, upon which the band’s debut album “Enter the Dreamlands” was based, along with 5 new compositions.

The “Enter the Dreamlands” is my first interaction with the band, so I didn’t know what to expect. I made some assumptions from the band’s name and title of the album, thinking to myself that I am going to have to sit through 40 minutes of “every power metal ever” kind of album. Only when I read the track list, it got to me that this might be interesting. An intro and few minutes of the second song later, I was sure that I was in not for a generic power metal album but for dark journey in the “dreamlands”.

With a track list filled with titles like “Dagon” and “The Doom That Came to Sarnath”, I believe that you can guess what the main lyrical theme is. The “Enter the Dreamlands” is an album dedicated and written around the twisted fantasy of H.P Lovecraft. Quite intrigued? You should be, if you are fans of the dark notion of Lovecraft, since the Cyclopean Walls offer an accurate musical representation of his stories. 

Now if you are knew to the lore, be prepared there will be no dreamlands but a journey through the world of the Great Old Ones.

Musically, Cyclopean Walls blend in their sound the European with the US progressive metal with the addition of classical elements and hauntingly beautiful melodies, creating a dark atmosphere that offers cinematic vibes. In the course of the record, they draw inspiration from heavier genres to form an ominous atmosphere fitting to the theme. The doom metal inspired riffing in the songs “The Garden” and “The Doom that Came to Sarnath” are such examples.

Cyclopean Walls’ debut is a great progressive metal interpretation of the Lovecraftian lore, filled with beautiful compositions that will draw the listener into their world from the first notes of the intro. Highly recommended, the “Enter the Dreamlands” is a flawless debut that paves the way for great things in the future.

1. Polaris

2. Dagon

3. Festival

4. The Rats In The Walls

5. The Doom That Came To Sarnath

6. The Church Of Starry Wisdom

7. Celephais

8. The Dweller In Darkness

9. The Garden

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