Element of Fate‘s official website seems to be Instagram of all things. Yep, this social media channel. A spawn of the terrible Meta-verse that seems to be the only one garnished with the band’s moniker. This doesn’t or should not reflect negatively on the musical prowess of the band, of course, but it gives you an inkling of how well-versed an act actually is in digital marketing. And – it may well give you a pretty good idea of what to expect going forward, as often both go hand in hand.
The band resides – willingly or not – in the sickly glow of the Orange Goblin, emanating from his gilded Abode of the Damned.1 But – let’s not forget that the outfit also hails from Cascadia, which truly speaks in their favor. And should we dare expecting some fantasy fare on their newest vinyl? Perhaps. Dreamfall beckons you.
Alright, as per the promo dude or dudette, this record should somehow navigate near to “…Nightwish, Amorphis, or Epica.” Come again? None of that is true for any of them, and stating that Symphonic or Gothic Metal should somehow be part of that overly weird concoction still does not make it so. Nor does often aimlessly warbling about the soundscape with the grace of a hoarse American barn owl really add a ton of value.2 Doesn’t it, Carol Phillips? But more to that later. The lady seems to be at the helm of this duo, consisting of multi-instrumentalist Scott Loose and herself.
Instead, you get a much better furnished version of these weirdos combined with the unspeakable grace of the often unnervingly eccentric Aussie gang, The Neptune Power Federation. And all of that sometimes seems to eerily echo Cradle of Filth’s grubby loud airs without the grace of Mr Filth himself. So, no, symphonics are definitely out of the door. There’s no resemblance to the aforementioned three. Zilch. Instead of abject copycat, however, you get variety. Dreamfall morphed into a genre-bending exercise of sorts. And this is by and large always a good thing if done right, that is. You’ll find elements of Heavy Metal, doom, airs of the alternative, and some truly psychedelic moments.
Philips’ steel-clad vocal discovery mode truly serves as this huffin’ ‘n’ puffin’ energy generator without which this record wouldn’t be worth your time of day. She’s been blessed with a mighty pair of cords good for all sorts of phonetic gymnastics. A powerful and – yes – often theatrical vox that could offer some true potential. It is thus a true pity that she won’t hit all notes right, combined with a tendency to yodel herself out of commission at times. And that’s the first genuinely bad spot on Dreamfall. The somewhat spotty production comes in second. I mean, Scott Loose here truly is a capable jack o’ all trades. But, as it often goes with these do-it-yourself pieces, the whole shebang sounds as if the metal would emanate somewhere from the basement.
Meaning, while the instruments work reasonably well together, the delivery putters in on an even keel. The songsmithing and the resulting mix lack oomph and powerful dexterity, that intense push forward that will allow for some added spice, transforming a good performance into a stellar one. The red-hot and still astonishingly astute vocals sit straight atop the mix as they should. But they alone cannot provide that heft needed to pull this cart out of the mud and further into the light.
So, what have we caught us here? Dreamfall got us a mighty mixed bag of goodies. The variety, the talent on display, the ideation, all of that piqued our interest first and made us pick up this record. You’ll find stellar moments such as Whispering Tree or the feisty Firebird that have the potential to take this to the next level. However, the piece is fraught with impurities that needn’t be there. And this saddled us with this hot-and-cold treatment that made us pull back from jacking this record up on the rating scale some more.
Put differently, the talent and prowess to produce a great record are on full disply, but – for some reason – this didn’t quite bubble to the forefront this time. So, let’s wait and see what Element of Fate will produce the next time around.
Record Rating: 5/10 | Label: Self-Released | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 27 July 2026