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DGM: Tragic Separation
DGM - Tragic Separation Album Art

DGM: Tragic Separation

Progressive Power Metal
3.5/5.0

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Frontiers Music
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 30.09.2020 | Released: 09.10.2020

Has it been that long? It's been four years since Italy's DGM has let loose a new studio album. After the release of 2016's The Passage, DGM found time to record a live DVD from a concert in Milan. Now the band returns with their tenth album, Tragic Separation, "a concept album about life and everyone's path they go down between the choices they make and the subsequent consequences they bring to human lives."

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DGM

Musically, the album finds DGM, perhaps, even more raging then before. Aside from slight mellow moments, most songs across Tragic Separation can be best described as fast and heavy, dense and intense, progressive power metal. The epicenter of this musical contigency is the strong, roaring wall of riffage which, in turn, is encouraged and made more intense by the thundering rhythm section. The keyboards merely add even more density to the arrangements. Then the power metal speed and groove kick in, with all things leading to an enthusasitic and blistering Simone Mularoni guitar solo. The song arrangements, in parts, display the technicality and intrigue of progressive metal, yet it's hard to catch the nuances when the metal is so raging. Also, in this mix is vocalist Marco Basile's voice which seems to have only one purpose: getting nearly obliterated by the power metal intensity. Perhaps it's not that bad, but I couldn't understand him all that well.

Fine examples of this power metal roar and rage come with Stranded, Surrender, Fate, and Hope. However, with the title cut, Tragic Separation, the intensity is prempted by a fine piano and violin opening (nearly reminding of Kansas) before things get rip-roaring and fast. Also, not all songs are marked by a singular Mularoni guitar solo. At least three songs, Flesh And Blood, Tragic Separation, and Turn Back Time find keyboard player Emanuele Casali offer a dueling synth solo. There may be more, but between the density and intensity of each song, I may have missed them. The odd song out is the closing song, Curtain, an instrumental featuring merely acoustic guitar and smooth keyboards. All said, Tragic Separation finds DGM turning the knobs to 11, offering listeners their most fast and heavy, dense and intense, platter of progressive power metal to date.




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The Bottom Line

All said, Tragic Separation finds DGM turning the knobs to 11, offering listeners their most fast and heavy, dense and intense, platter of progressive power metal to date.

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