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With so many amazing releases of late, it's not going to be hard for Italian progsters DGM to get swept away by the claws of ignorance. But just as Dream Theater have released their latest musical excursion, DGM have released theirs and frankly, I think I prefer the latter.

Having pretty much ignored them in the past due to their poor imitations and the fact that their music had less meat on it than Ally MacBeal, I am please to report that it's seventh time lucky for the prog metal elite, and during their recuperation time, they have produced one hell of an album. Shifting their sound into a clean, light, melodic mix of catchy power metal and challenging prog, "Different Shapes" goes a long way to ape their influences; mostly Angra it has to be said, but a large number of choruses nod their head towards Mob Rules, surprisingly; with some cool piano pieces and synth based segments sprinkling the songs like light rain. The production is superb; sounding every bit the professional force they deserve to be. There are huge melodies, stunning technicality and masterful musicianship galore, and while rubbing their axes and keyboards as hard as they can without their wrists falling off, they haven't forgotten how to piece together decent songs either; check out the mid paced majesty of "Unkept Promises" or the orchestrally balanced "Frontiers" for a demonstration of highly proficient song writing ability.

Probably tipping the balance slightly are the faster, double bass led tracks such as "New Life" and the Kamelot-esque jaunt of "Signs of Time", but these are by no means the strongest tracks; within time the entire duration becomes magnificent, and despite some rather formulaic soloing and Edu Falaschi mimicking, this is one of the strongest prog-power metal releases I've heard this year. Truly a masterclass in futuristic, melodic power metal that at least tries harder than it sounds. And it shows.