Reflection of Glory --- One man symphonic metal band

It's not often that a regular symphonic metal band is fronted by a man, especially in christian metal, which is a shame. But here's an exception of course, otherwise I wouldn't introduce Reflection of Glory like that   His second album will be released on January 31, and physical formats can be ordered until coming Friday (January 22nd), they are kinda price-y though. The orchestrations are very good, and he doesn't forget about the riffs which is a typical error for lots of bands within the subgenre. Voice takes a bit of getting used to maybe. Two YT links, one is a song, the other is a sampler of album songs. I'll also post a review in this thread for your information.

Review from my fb page

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Reflection of Glory is a one man project from the USA by Barry Dreier. I have a weak spot for melodic metal artists who handle all instruments and all vocal duties, something that goes back to Theocracy's amazing debut album and is still continued by for example Arcane Tales.
Now allow me to tell you why you and I should add Reflection of Glory to that list. I would classify the style as simply symphonic metal with occasional power metal leanings, something we don't hear too often combined with mostly male vocals; examples that do come to mind are Serenity and especially Lingua Mortis Orchestra.

The Hound of Heaven kicks off the album with drums and lush orchestrations, driving into a 12 minute beast of an opener with a drive behind it that reminds me of Let the Storm Descend Upon You by Avantasia. It's a bold move to start with your longest song, but it absolutely works. The song drips with inspiration, both instrumental and vocal melodies are extremely well-crafted and complement each other perfectly. And as is the case on the entire album, the many riffs are both great and audible, combination that is often overlooked by bands within the genre. As for the vocals, Dreier's voice is adequate but maybe a bit too down-to-earth for the kind of music, but considering the quality of the vocal melodies and the fact that he has a clear voice it shouldn't be a problem for the listener. After The Houd of Heaven the tempo is kept high with Holy War, which is followed by two midtempo stompers. Then something weird happens, and not in a good way. Track number five is a ballad, and a good one at that. Track number six is a ballad, and a good one at that. See what's going wrong here? It gets worse, because a peaceful interlude introduces... another ballad. And again, it's a good ballad. But this means that there's a "calm streak" of 15 minutes, smack in the middle of the album, and that's very bad for an album's flow, despite the short heavy outbursts that can be found on Folly of the Fall and The Mirror. Yet somehow, Dreier pulls it off to get things going again, which is no small feat. Battle of the Alphas is another midtempo song, followed by the speedy Graves of the Craving. Beyond Evermore finishes the album in an epic fashion, yet it is followed by an almost 9 minutes orchestral outro which revists melodies of all previous songs; Angra has done the same in the recent past and I remember similar antics (albeit more subtly) by Logar's Diary. It actually flows great together and it's a pleasant way of closing such an album, even though 9 minutes can be a tad too long for some.

I'd highly recommend this album, despite the ballad-y patch in the middle and the fact that 69 minutes is a bit long. But what you get for that duration is nonstop great compositions (whether they are placed strategically or not), and I must add that there's no sugary happiness in the music; the tone is often earnest and sometimes melancholic. Now if you're fast you can preorder the album on CD and vinyl, I think it's possible until January 18th. Anyway, Reflection of Glory is the first pleasant surprise of 2021, and hopefully not the last.


HIGHLIGHTS: The Hound of Heaven, Holy War, Graves of the Craving

Good job Andreas, i will promote this project also through Christian Metal Horde

Nice review!  I'm counting down the days until its release. 

VERY excited to hear of another Christian symphonic metal band.. Here's my review featured on Jesusfreakhideout for those interested: 

  Symphonic metal with a Christian message has been a wasteland for far too long, and one-man-band Reflection Of Glory is here to help change that. My heart leaped for joy during the first minute of "The Hound of Heaven." Its mix of uplifting orchestration, furious riffing, and theologically-rich metaphors culminate into a fantastical allegory of Christ, here portrayed as a hound, powerfully pursuing lost sinners, "The Hound of Heaven on my trail/His steady pace, unhurried chase; unchanging, never slowing/The Hound of Heaven will not fail." The way this track is built reminds me of Theocracy's epic "Mirror Of Souls" and is alone worth the price of admission. Mastermind Barry Dreier has an almost chant-like quality to his voice, which lends itself well to the medieval, high-church atmosphere. Conceptually, this is Harry Potter meets Pilgrims Progress. Musically, it's Nightwish meets Powerwolf. At times tender, at times surprisingly brutal, Escape the Dream is an extremely welcome reality, and deserves wide recognition.

Both reviews here: https://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/indiemusic/EscapetheDream.asp

Welcome to the CMR, Joel!

Welcome Joel! That's a great review and only makes me more excited to hear the whole album! I was cranking Reborn today in anticipation haha.

Thank you both!!!

I've listened through the album 1.5 times so far and concur with Andreas' and Joel's reviews.  It's a very good album overall and of higher quality than the majority of bands comparable - especially within the Christian scene.  The string of ballads in the middle was maybe not the best idea as Andreas said... though I may come around to it - when listening to the album in its entirety, that might give the latter songs that much more oomf.  My wife overheard me playing one of said ballads and was like, "what are you listening to, a Disney soundtrack?!?" LOL.  Admittedly, the ballads do sound a bit corny to my ears, though that's par for course in power metal.  There's a lot going on and many layers to the album which usually yields to me liking albums such as this more and more over time.  I also look forward to digging into the lyrics since Barry seems very intent on creating Gospel-centered music (which I think is awesome and far too rare in the scene of "smashing demons heads" or other silliness and such).

I couldn't justify the price of the physical album in the preorders. It came with added items (wallpapers, instrumental version of the album, etc.) but I wasn't interested in those. I was hoping that after the preorders were down there would be a future time when the physical copy would available for purchase without the extras at a lower price. 

Since that isn't a current option I'll be looking forward to a physical release of some sort in the future. I will be ordering this for certain, if and when that time comes.

Like Dalit and Northern Flame, I'm forced to be patient.

I wasn't going to splurge on the CD pre-order but because it may not be available otherwise, I didn't want to take the chance...

I don't think Dalit has any plans to release Moksha physically; did you hear that they will?  Dang, I would've waited too then!  As for Northern Flame, I'm likewise waiting to purchase the CD. 

But back to Reflection Of Glory, the album just gets better with repeated listens IMO.  Great stuff!

Kerrick wrote:I wasn't going to splurge on the CD pre-order but because it may not be available otherwise, I didn't want to take the chance...

I don't think Dalit has any plans to release Moksha physically; did you hear that they will?  Dang, I would've waited too then!  As for Northern Flame, I'm likewise waiting to purchase the CD. 

But back to Reflection Of Glory, the album just gets better with repeated listens IMO.  Great stuff!

I understand and thought the same. However I have a decent sized "must have" list of upcoming releases and I wasn't sure if this was worth putting one of those off. I hope at some point there are more physical options or a label makes a great offer. I waited 6 months for Dominus Domantium. I'll wait for this if need be.

As for Dalit, they didn't rule it out. It was a maybe. After purchasing every Drottnar Monolith Ep I felt foolish buying the CD later. I've waited years for the Dalit album, I can wait a few months on a possible physical release.

Right on!  I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for a physical release.

I just talked with Barry on Facebook and he has a few copies left over. He'll be putting them up for sale on his website as soon as he actually has them (should be within a few weeks).

I had asked as well. 

Ordered a physical copy yesterday since he's now received them.

Good! I kind of dropped the ball and only found out about it yesterday evening. I hope that Kerrick isn't too late now, although I can't imagine he went through all 35 copies in three days.

Well my bank account regrets my decision... but I had decided not to take the risk and go ahead and do the pre-order.     Ouch!  But my CD is on its way. 

Pity that man doesn't accept Dogecoin eh?

I need to get this one

I wouldn't wait around for too long if I were you!

Through interesting circumstances I just got my CD over the weekend. Glad to finally have it.

Musically fantastic. It truly sounds professional and the guitars have some great heft to them. Like Andreas said originally the riffs are there and they are wonderful and often complex. Sometimes symphonic metal has guitar work that just carries underneath the rest. A few of the songs the riff is primary, aggressive, and foremost in the sound. I love it.

Songwriting, I don't think there is a bad song on it. Everyone else posting previously has worked over the slow middle but the songs themselves carry the weight. I'm curious what others think who have had it longer if that bothers you playing it straight through or if you've even been able to do so? I haven't tried a full once through yet since my time is limited. What do you all think now after a month?

Vocals? My only concern beforehand proved no real concern. I really like the vocals. One small concession to that is, I think that as an independent artist producing your own work it's probably hard to push fantastic performances. I say that because Barry sounds great at all registers both when singing softly and with intensity. However, at times certain verses have less inspired performances. A perfect example for me is his performance on Sleep With The Lie, where he sounds fantastic all the way through vs when he comes in on The Folly of the Fall where he sounds less sure. Both songs are similar but the performances vary a bit.

Ultimately a fantastic album. Pretty surprising that this is a one man band. It's very "complete."

I got around to hearing it on my CD player for the first time last Monday, and even though I can be rather picky (being into the style for over 10 years does that with you), it keeps hitting that sweet spot.

By the way, at points this music reminds me of Pathfinder (the Polish band) but with slower songs. Still a compliment though.

I'm loving the music but agree that the vocals could use more range