Dream Evil

United

[3/5] Dream Evil may be the most self-aware band of all time. Case in point: United’s opening track “Fire! Battle! In Metal” is a song solely about fire, battle and, well, metal. While Dream Evil may not have the technical chops of, say, DragonForce, they make up for it with magnificently crafted power-metal anthems that pick up where ’80s metal juggernauts like Dio and Judas Priest left off. (And if you think a band who are still writing songs with titles like “Evilution” in 2006 are being ironic, well, just look at Dream Evil’s press photos.) Sure, it gets a bit tedious listening to United from start to finish, but we’ll be damned if “Love Is Blind” isn’t destined for the next Monster Ballads compilation-and isn’t that reason enough to give this at least a cursory listen? (CENTURY MEDIA; centurymedia.com) Jonah Bayer