Should we let you in on a dark secret? DarkTribe‘s last record, Voici L’Homme, never quite synced with us. Apart from the pretty snazzy title track, the piece was a true struggle to review. Meaning, well-elaborated but always kinda bland in nature, the record was always one small step away from generating a rant. Which, in all honesty, it did not deserve.
Fast forward to 2025, and Forgotten Reveries just made it onto our review pipe. First listens revealed the typical DarkTribe sound yet again. Soaring Power Metal roaring in on the mother of all smooth productions with nary a gelled hair out of place. And we frankly didn’t expect anything else from this French act. So, will it be old tropes revisited or newfound metal pathways discovered? Let the Godz ov Metal decide.
One thing is certain. You won’t find hit pieces like Voici l’Homme (the track) on Forgotten Reveries anymore. This new record is honed down and evened out to a large degree. It thus took us a while to break into the record and uncover its decidedly juicy innards after removing layer upon layer of sticky cheese. But make no mistake, a band such as DarkTribe won’t change its spots nor the general direction it’s hurtling towards. Right from the start, the record delivers the usual mana of high-powered, speedy Power Metal delivered to your loudspeakers with energy to spare. This means that the fanbase will be ecstatic, but seasoned reviewers like yours truly may not be all that thrilled. Especially when the RMR crew found a tad too much focus on Pop Metal of the Amaranthe kind.1
So, does Forgotten Reveries sport the chops to take this further than Voici l’Homme ever did? The short answer is yes. The RMR crew detected a considerable effort to refine and enhance what came before. What was already soaring metal extremes before now truly dazzles with an effort to kick this up a few notches. I Walk Alone and The Fallen World take the lead first. These two tracks are symptomatic of what comes later in the tracklist. Speedy metal excursions, DarkTribe‘s typical melodic approach full of harmonies and often layered vocal performances, reckless riffing, and wild solos. And all of that in rapid-fire succession.
But let’s be honest. DarkTribe will always deliver songs that you kinda heard before. Meaning, they actually sport a sound the fanbase can relate to, with the danger that the repetition bug suddenly strikes. On the downside, you will never get a ton of experimentation out of them. But these first two songs truly showed us that a higher octane level can actually work wonders.
Now, Sicilian Danza truly threw us. The RMR crew expected to get some reinvented harsh folk dance ditty out of them after all. Crafted in the arid mountain ranges of this rugged island by the local contadini of long times past. But not so. Instead, the band delivered a thunderclap of modern Power Metal full of heavy chugging, the vocalist’s trademark high-pitched and often multilayered wails, and enough drama to awaken Lukrezia. Even if she was no Sicilian, of course, but you get my drift.
That said, Forgotten Reveries doesn’t contain any blatantly bad tracks. The only true issue is that the record loses some energy toward the second half. And whilst the playtime ain’t overly extensive, many tracks meander a tad too much about the soundscape. Yet, no effort was seemingly undertaken to self-edit and sharpen the delivery. Much to the contrary, the band seemed to add ever-new layers of cheese. The band could have shaved 1-2 minutes off most tracks. Or failing that, severely curtail tracks such as the overly wobbly Son of Illusion.
Ultimately though, Forgotten Reveries turned into somewhat of a surprise for the year. DarkTribe aren’t at Helloween levels at this time, but this here record is an amazing step upward from the last time we covered them. The band truly kept to their roots, but – at the same time – transformed their delivery into one of the best Power Metal albums of 2025 on this zine to date. And that really piqued our curiosity as to what they’ll be doing once their next installment is due.
Record Rating: 7/10 | Label: Scarlet Records | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 21 November 2025
- A TAD? Try way too much. -Ed.-↩