Once upon a time, back in 1985, three young musicians met: drummer Mike Portnoy, bassist John Myung, and guitarist John Petrucci. At the time, they could hardly have imagined that their names would soon become synonymous with virtuosity and extraordinary instrumental mastery, and that their band DREAM THEATER would become the most famous progressive metal act in existence. These three musicians have been together for 22 years now; keyboardist Kevin Moore was replaced by DEREK SHERINIAN, who in turn was succeeded by Jordan Rudess. So who haven't we mentioned? Ah yes, the vocalist. And what does DREAM THEATER have to do with anything here? Well, the first vocalist of the band — then called MAJESTY — was Chris Collins, who recorded several demos and was let go in 1987. As we know, James LaBrie, whose voice is unequivocally associated with the band, didn't arrive until 1992 after two years of searching. But there was also the period of 1987-1990, during which the band's debut album was recorded. The vocalist at that time was one Charlie Dominici. Before that, he had sung in the soft rock band "Franke & The Knockouts." So, in early 1990, Dream Theater parted ways with him. What happened to Charles over the following 15 years remains a mystery. In any case, the biography on his official website tells us he sang in DREAM THEATER, returned to the microphone stand in 2004... and nothing more. Indeed, on March 6, 2004, at a concert celebrating the 15th anniversary of DREAM THEATER's first album, Dominici appeared on stage with a microphone in hand.
A little over a year passed, and in July 2005 the first studio work from his own band called DOMINICI was released — "O3 A Trilogy - Part I." A year and a half later, the second record saw the light of day — "O3 A Trilogy - Part II." Presumably the third part, dedicated to Ozone, will follow soon.
The band features quite young musicians who are undeniably skilled — everyone plays superbly. Perhaps the weakest aspect is Dominici's actual vocals. As was the case 18 years ago, his voice utterly lacks expressiveness. Yes, he hits the notes in places, but there's no stunning power or force in his voice. For traditional American progressive metal, this is a perfectly acceptable and not at all criminal situation. From a compositional standpoint, this work reveals absolutely nothing new. Hard but non-aggressive technical progressive metal, without any experiments or distinctly memorable moments. A solid effort overall, but nothing more.