Band:	Ambeon
Album:	Fate Of A Dreamer
Style:	Ambient, Progressive metal
Release date:	May 2001

Disc I
01. Estranged
02. Ashes
03. High
04. Cold Metal
05. Fate
06. Sick Ceremony
07. Lost Message
08. Surreal
09. Sweet Little Brother
10. Dreamer
11. Cold Metal [Single version] [2011 re-release bonus]
12. Merry-Go-Round [2011 re-release bonus]
13. High [Remix] [2011 re-release bonus]

Disc II [Live] [2011 re-release bonus]
01. Actual Fantasy
02. Valley Of The Queens
03. Ashes
04. Charm Of The Seer
05. Castle Hall
06. Estranged
07. Temple Of The Cat
08. Isis And Osiris
09. High
10. Garden Of Emotions
11. Sick Ceremony
12. House On Mars
13. Lost Message
14. Into The Black Hole / Cold Metal

I listen to Fate Of A Dreamer every now and again, and still it feels so sweet with strong feelings flowing through every song while accentuating the surreal atmosphere which I assume it aims to deliver to the listener. I wish I could write about it more objectively but it's simply unavoidable for me how much I can fuss about its sweet awesome appeal.

The album's strength is in how Arjen Anthony Lucassen was completely successful in making every song independently interesting, while still retaining a vigorous tie between them that makes the whole album stream gently like a river in our minds. Its gentle, fresh reels of sweetness start to flow in our heads with flute tunes, sounding like one of the most awesome intros for such a fantasy-like album that prepares the listener for the rest of it; which contains more of those typical metal elements.

Yet don't ever expect too many heavy riffs, or any distinguishable crushing choruses from Fate Of A Dreamer, which is in fact an easy-listening album in the genre. I suppose Arjen Anthony Lucassen was trying to give emphasis to the dramatic side of the music. This has been quite well achieved by a good use of instruments and lyrics, such as appropriate keyboard lines contributing to what Astrid is singing about, and also decent guitar solos.

But don't get me wrong, the album is still so enjoyable, and nothing to take a nap to. You will have a mind full of surreal, and sometimes even frightful, images that are combined with delightful tones while listening to this album.

A dominating sense of nostalgia, suspense and indecisiveness begins pouring out from the very first moment of playing this album. These feelings are simply stressed by the use of the beautiful melodies that the flute and the vocal lines are accompanied by, such instances being the songs "High", "Sick Ceremony" and "Lost Message", in which the beautiful voice of Astrid van der Veen makes it doubly memorable. Although these beautiful rills of Fate Of A Dreamer are so progressive, I dare to say that they certainly contain some gothic aspects too, both musically and lyrically.

Perhaps Fate Of A Dreamer was not that satisfying for Arjen himself (as I once read in an interview), but at the moment I really believe it's totally underrated. I really wish Ambeon would have kept going with what they had started, and made more albums with such dramatic approaches and with less processed filler sounds, which I personally tend to have more in my metal inland.

Highlights: "Cold Metal", "Surreal", "Sweet Little Brother"