Musician Dave Martone is a recording engineer and has a minor in music education. He’s renowned for his clinics in the US and has released several albums on various labels. In 2002 he signed a contract with the Finnish label Lion Music. Let me start by saying that I’m not a big fan of instrumental music. Especially not when it’s recorded and produced by a single musician, which usually leads to questionable products. When I got the latest release from Lion Music, my expectations were thus low. After listening to A Demon’s Dream, I must admit that out of all instrumental releases by Lion Music this is possibly the best one.

Dave Martone definitely knows what he’s doing. The album contains a lot of great progressive material with metal influences and it offers more than enough variation. At certain times the album really rocks, while at other times jazz influences create a great melodic atmosphere. By hiring additional musicians that are of equal quality Martone avoided making a very common mistake. The drums on the album sound great and form a solid base. Other instruments used on the album are keyboards, bass and tablas. My CD-player will definitely be seeing a lot of this CD! (Geert)