ADAGIO emerged in 2000, and in 2001 and 2003, the band released two full-length albums. The hiatus from studio activity lasted a full three years, and as a result, only two members from that era's lineup survived onto "Dominate": founder and guitarist Stephan and bassist Franck. The new vocalist sounds decent in the studio, but you can't shake the feeling that this is more to the engineer's credit during mastering. The voice itself is nothing remarkable.
What we have here is run-of-the-mill power metal with keyboards. Moreover, several tracks feature growling, and combined with the keyboard parts, it vaguely recalls the sound of bands like ILLNATH and similar pseudo-symphonic-black mass-produced fare. Yes, the guitar solos remain very interesting and complex. Overall, the release itself is not bad at all, but if we speak of what was versus what has become, this represents a serious regression in the band's output. Instead of the fascinating power-progressive style reminiscent of SYMPHONY X, we hear unremarkable, lightweight power metal — light in both sound and perception — and what the growling is doing there is completely baffling. Imitating others is the very last thing a band should resort to.
What compensates for the creative crisis is, above all, the superb recording quality and the virtuosic keyboard and guitar parts. But the captivating atmosphere of the first two releases has been entirely lost — it simply evaporated.