"Almost two years ago I was nicely surprised by the debut album of a new German heavy progressive rock band...The surprise of that debut has gone and we are left to deal with the next step. There is progression in the music of Dante...All in all what I do I know is that we are dealing with musicians that are, each and every one of them, very capable players...
Dante is most of all - Dante. The five members started out on their previous effort The Inner Circle with the development of their own sound... now the music has evolved to the next level into a sound of their own...
Dante has made a superb second album, they have not let me down for a minute. Saturnine is a must in every heavy progressive metal collection."
"If The Inner Circle successfully drew you into its darkly weaved labyrinth of ideas then Saturnine takes a fascinating and rewarding step into even more complex and shifting territory. As it moves through its cleverly complicated changes of direction it succeeds in delivering melodic moments that are guaranteed to haunt your musical mind...This is one of the finest, and most imaginative albums I have heard from the progressive metal field in a while. With it, Dante prove themselves to be brave and convincing enough to take the album out into their own confident direction...Huge orchestrations, haunting melodic sequences, and sudden massive riffs help leave the listener unable to second guess the next direction. As such it intrigues, compels, and ultimately fascinates...With this Dante underline just why they are now at the forefront of Europe’s ever fascinating prog-metal scene...Saturnine is an extraordinary journey through slowly opening doors leading down dimly lit corridors to the very essence of Dante. Definately a band to look out for.!
"Das Augsburger Quintett DANTE liefert mit ihrem zweiten Album einen düster-romantischen Prog Metal Edelstein ab, wie man ihn in der, oft auf der Stelle tretenden oder in der Vergangenheit stecken gebliebenen, Prog Szene selten findet...Saturnine klingt von der ersten bis zur letzten Minute sehr eigenständig, frickelt nicht um den heißen Progbrei herum und schafft es, einerseits komplex aber letztlich nicht verkopft zu sein. Der Song steht im Mittelpunkt, eine prinzipiell universelle Regel, die aber gerade im Progbereich oft missachtet wird. Abwechslung wird auf Saturnine ebenfalls groß geschrieben...Die heimische Prog Szene mag nicht die international Stärkste zu sein...mit DANTE geht aber ganz klar ein neuer Stern auf und Saturnine schlägt meiner Ansicht das aktuelle, auch alles andere als schwache, VANDEN PLAS Werk um ein paar Meter!"
German progressive metal band Dante returns with a even more impressive set of songs. Just like their debut “The Inner Circle”, their new album “Saturnine” exceeds my expectations within the progressive metal genre. While most like to imitate bands like Dream Theater, Dante thinks outside the box...If you’re a fan of bands that don’t clone popular bands to get an audience or enjoy the afore mentioned bands, then you’ll enjoy Dante’s “Saturnine”. This is simply highly recommended progressive music here!
"Der deutsche Fünfer um Sänger Alexander Göhs hat nun also ein 7 Song starkes Album am Start...Insgesamt bieten DANTE dem geneigten Hörer amtliche progressive Mucke mit allem, was dazu gehört. Melodische Keyboardparts, filigrane Gitarrenarbeit, vielseitige Gesangspassagen. Das sind Trademarks...so macht es Spaß. Wirklich empfehlenswerte Musik "Made in Germany".
The music...can be described as powerful, melodic progrock/metal influenced..."Saturnine” has indeed a lot to offer and one shouldn’t expect that this complex, yet catchy material comes from a band that was founded only a few couple of years ago. The two longest tracks, opener “All My Life” (12:14) and closer “Vanessa” (19:00) prove what this band is (already) capable of!
This is a band that mixes classic drawn-out progressive melodies, serene hooks, mystical riffs and complex rhythms with flourishes of heavy metal, thrash and straight ahead hard rock. The result is very pleasant on the ears, and all rather epic. The 12 minute 'All My Life' is an album in itself, containing more good music than many entire records...Saturnine is an excellent prog album...and as a whole this record confirms Dante as one of this year's finest progressive acts.
Saturnine' is Dante's second coming, and what we get is an album that has "prog" written all over it...Dante manages to create some memorable moments with that formula, mainly caused by some passionate and catchy choruses. In 'All My Life' the part "I thought you should know/ This is all I am/ This is all I got to give/ If that's alright/ If that's ok/ We're gonna see the day" is as moving and emotional as progressive music can get..
9/10
The guys know how to keep the balance between showing off skills and support the song which makes it a pleasure to listen to the songs!...Dante offer a great piece of progressive music!...[and] builds a bridge between different genres and times...They find place for some highly technical parts, but most of the time they play in a song supportive way.They have catchy melodies and heavy riffs, symphonic elements and 70's sounds. Kudos!
With "Saturnine" Dante makes a distinctive album of prog metal that has many qualities to attract a wide audience, it is metal and / or prog. One senses immediately the musical maturity of all members of the group, which places them immediately above the pack of prog metal groups...
So it is impossible to resist the gravitational pull exerted by "Saturnine", which...keeps a grip at all times on your emotional and sensory endings, justified by the fact that there appears no weakness. Dante makes prog metal here as a delightful upscale, which leaves nothing to envy to Dream Theater, and whose maturity happily amplifies the creative inspiration of composers. Very well recorded, mixed and produced...this album is for fans of Dream Theater, Symphony X, Porcupine Tree, Yes, but also to fans of Metallica and other eclectic Megadeth.
Um das alles noch einmal kurz zusammenzufassen: Die fünf Jungs von DANTE machen kraftvollen, spannenden Progressive Metal, der all das vermeidet, was das Prog-Genre für mich bisweilen so langatmig und dröge wirken lässt: keine Komplexität als Selbstzweck, kein ewig nölendes und maßloses Ergehen in Selbstgefälligkeiten und gequälten Emotrips, keine Instrumentaleskapaden ohne Biss und Belang, sondern stattdessen die hörbare und fühlbare Freude am Musizieren, der Mut, Sänger Alexander Göhs sogar ein Stück weit episch singen zu lassen und Riffs aus den Handgelenken zu schleudern, die beim Hörer nicht nur die Hirnwindungen zum Glühen bringen, sondern auch einfach mal die Faust in die Höhe zucken und den Kopf zum Bangen animieren lassen. Das alles natürlich nicht, ohne auch das Zarte, das Zerbrechliche und das Anmutige zu seinem Recht kommen zu lassen.
"Saturnine" ist schlicht und ergreifend ein Album, das DANTE gegenüber dem bereits tollen Debüt nochmals wachsen lässt, und das - so es noch Gerechtigkeit geben sollte - seinen Weg in die Stereoanlagen all jener finden sollte, die sich auf Alben wie "Edge Of Thorns", "Space Metal" oder auch "The Plague" zu Hause fühlen. Es mögen große Worte sein, aber für mich ist "Saturnine" das aktuell überzeugendste Prog-Album, und die Augsburger müssen sich damit hinter keiner einzigen etablierten Größe des Genres verstecken. Kompliment!
Formed back in 2006 after meeting at a Dream Theater concert, the members of Dante have taken the influence of that band and added in some symphonic & romantic flavors to come up with a sound that is quite pleasing on the ears, yet challenging enough for genre fans. Saturnine picks up soundwise right from where The Inner Circle left off. To be honest, Dante's style is more moody, melodic prog than progressive metal, but they do feature plenty of heavy riffs and barnstorming guitar & keyboard exchanges which is a prerequisite of the genre...
Good to see a band this talented at home on a label that will certainly give them every opportunity to succeed. My first thought when hearing their debut a few years back was that SOMEONE needs to hear this band and sign them up-thankfully Shawn Gordon & ProgRock Records stepped up to the plate. Saturnine is the next step after the promise of The Inner Circle, and signals the arrival of a major player on the prog/prog-metal scene.
Dante might have come to life at a Dream Theater gig but they have so much more to offer than just being another Dream Theater clone. To my ears they've managed to take the best of the German power metal scene and married it with the best of Dream Theater to make "Saturnine" a fresh take on the whole prog metal schtick. And it was a while since anything power metallish impressed me but I must say that Dante managed to make my toes curl.
DANTE haben...einen überzeugenden Longplayer abgelegt..."Saturnine“ bietet...mit seinen sieben Songs gediegene Prog-Unterhaltung, die man sich als Fan durchaus in solcher Form wünscht...Saturnine“ ist ein durch und durch melodisches, vor allem durch den Gesang lebendes Album geworden, das beinahe die gesamte Bandbreite progressiver Musik zu bieten hat. Die Übergänge zwischen härteren und softeren Elementen ist den Jungs hervorragend gelungen und auch produktionstechnisch gibt es an dieser Scheibe nicht wirklich etwas auszusetzen!...DANTE liefern ein durchaus überzeugendes Zweitlingswerk ab, mit dem sie mehr Aufmerksamkeit als bis dato erreichen sollten, ja müssten.
After the very succesfull debut album Dante is now releasing their second album through Prog-Rock Records: Saturnine...This band is more. Not just a copy-cat look-a-like band. It has a sound of it's own. So that makes Dante a band to keep your eye on.
Runners-up for Superband-status !!!
...One must be a bad mouth not to admit this young quintet has some kind of panache. Furthermore, the whole reminds more of the excellent (but not recognized enough) Threshold than Mike Portnoy's band's everlasting soldiers...it must be pointed out that the album's major epic, "Vanessa", masterful multi-part composition with a rare finesse, concludes this Saturnine with grace and majesty.
And now there is Saturnine...I’m curious, because the song All My Life lasts twelve minutes and the final song Vanessa, based on a true story, lasts nineteen (!) minutes. Could they convince me? Vanessa is a beautiful song with a lot of metal elements in it. It’s got it all...Special...is that Dante always returns to the steady base of the song. There is a certain riff of sound and after some hooks in the song it always returns and gives me the feeling the song is complete...The songs on the album are good in balance and are complementary towards each other. The guys of Dante for me are very talented and artistic. In music, but also in artwork and layout of the booklet. You have to listen to Saturnine when you like progrock. That’s for certain.
DANTE...setzen mit "Saturnine"...ein echtes Markenzeichen im progressiven Rockbereich...Schon mit dem Opener All My Life präsentieren die 5 Herren, dass sie es mit dem Wort "progressiv" durchaus Ernst meinen...in dem Sinne, dass sie vertrackt und kompositorisch auf hohem Niveau zu Werke gehen...Alle Achtung, meine Herren, das ist wirklich durchgehend großes Kino für die Ohren und sollte nicht allzu lange auf einen Nachfolger warten lassen. Diese Scheibe macht süchtig!
With their sophomore effort, Saturnine, German progressive band Dante will probably put prog purists (and elitists) into prog's seventh heaven. Saturnine is bolder, more immense, and even more complex than their debut The Inner Circle...By example, the opener All My Life has many compositional twists and often shifts gears so quickly to cause whiplash. Yet as a whole it sounds good...Later, take a deep breath, suspend your credulity, and open your mind because the 19 minute Vanessa is probably the most prophetic and imaginative prog you will hear this year.Call it complex, complicated, the edge of genius, or the borders of madness, Dante's Saturnine is a devastatingly vigorous work of progressive music. My suggestion? Allow for repeated listening. I think you will be both challenged and inspired. Quite recommended!
Second album of this intristing band from Germany , is another worthy experience in prog metal field...
The album has a little over an hour of music, but manage to capture my attention entirely, specially on instrumental passages whre the keys and rhytmic section shines truly. What I like to this band, one of the most promising prog metal bands from new generation is that they keep the same attitude, they didn't become more heavier just to please more listners, but aswell they didn't become softer to cath a wider auditorium, they remain faithfull to their belifes, making good music and be honest all the time... Good band, good album!
The sound of DANTE’s first CD is impressive and has a major label feeling, like a heavier DREAM THEATER most of the time, although I do feel it is not always as strong as their heroes, because a song like “Last” sounds just OK, but “Never return” on the other hand is sounding very impressive...Progmetalfans might wanna check out DANTE.
Saturnine is the new sophomore release from the Prog metal band Dante...that...has found its inspiration from bands like Pink Floyd and Dream Theater...Dante skirt the fine line between neo-progressive Rock with massive elements of progressive metal and different other subgenres. So; I can say that this is a release with different variations and diversity in-between the songs...It’s a good and solid release...Saturnine mainly appeals to fans Dream Theater and Pink Floyd.
"Saturnine" has more of a Prog-edge than a Metal-edge and feels more mature than "The Inner Circle". Especially "Vanessa" is one great piece of music and sums up what the band is all about. The production is very nice and very modern. Especially the vocals and the rhythm section stand out. Generally the band delivers great and memorable melodies and shows great skill in arranging the songs, and the two balldads are outstanding.
