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One of the many overlooked but somewhat derivative Power Metal bands to come from the frozen north, Finland's Dreamtale have been about for over ten years and have a string of albums to their name (the best of which is their awesome sophomore effort Ocean's Heart), but before that little gem of metal majesty we had the band's patchy but ultimately grin-inducing debut, the glorious Beyond Reality, and if they thought it was going to be a commercial success then, considering their misguided hopes, they named it very appropriately indeed.

Very much in the Sonata Arctica/Stratovarius/Gamma Ray mould, Dreamtale lead us through many a double-kicking, fist in the air, tear in the eye, happy-go-lucky merry-go-round of sweet and reflective Power Metal that stick in the mind like a hair on an apple pie. Guitarist/founder Rami Keranen handles vocal duties here, and while they are not up there with the people he employed for subsequent albums (who all surprisingly sounded just like more talented versions of himself) he is more than capable of bring the songs to life with power and emotion. Keyboards are heavily relied on here, as are the more flattering aspects of a Finnvox production, which makes this thing sound like you're floating on clouds. But the most interesting draw is the songs, all of which are catchy and individual. Every track has something to recommend, whether it be a cool lead or keyboard melody, or perhaps a chorus line or sweeping guitar riff; but the best songs on here have to be the poignant "Memories of Time", the speedy "Dreamland", the epic "Where The Rainbow Ends" (featuring Marco 'I'm On Everything' Hietala), and the blasting "Call of the Wild".

Not as polished or refined as its follow up, Beyond Reality still has a lot to offer for those of you with a metal sweet tooth, but just be warned. You might need to bust out the Listerine after listening to this sucker.