Reviewed by Nuno on 13 Jan 2010

Portuguese most prolific progressive composer Hugo Flores just keeps on going for release after release. Having started with a solo project with his name, he quickly created Sonic Pulsar which by the second album finally opened the doors of a renowned progressive label: ProgRock Records. This could have led Hugo to be more complacent or accommodated, but on the contrary, it just gave him the extra stamina to keep on releasing albums under different project names. In these are included Project Creation and this Factory of Dreams.

Due to the musical approach adopted and the proficiency demonstrated, Hugo is (correctly, in my opinion) often nicknamed “the Portuguese Arjen Lucassen”. And I truly believe that this can only be seen as a compliment.

Factory of Dreams is the project where Hugo Flores explores his gothic side, though the music here combines many more elements and is not, by any means, confined to a genre. In fact, this second album of the project gathers many components that were already present both in Project Creation and Sonic Pulsar, namely the epic feel and the bombastic keys and guitar parts. Also the complexity, the constant shifting in heaviness, direction and tempo; and the multi-layer approach are common elements in Hugo’s works.

It is true that with A Strange Utopia, it is the vocals by Jessica Lehto that many times provide the guidance to more gothic grounds, while the music tends to potentiate Jessica singing impact. She has an incredible voice with an uncommon tone and an original approach (especially the slight changes in tone that she often experiments).

Instrumentally, there is much more to it, as Hugo mixes a very human touch with some interludes that seem almost inorganic…mechanized (again, comparisons to Guilt Machine and Ambeon must be allowed). But Hugo complexes things much more, as the dynamics of the music are sometimes taken to extreme levels, making this album an experience to grow on you rather than having an immediate impact. It is one of those albums that needs a few listens before you really get the wider picture.

Ok, so everyone talks about the gothic genre, but the progressive metal, progressive rock and even Celtic tapestries can be found here. Sometimes the music makes me think of mid-term Within Temptation and even Tristania circa Beyond the Veil & World of Glass (the calmer parts of this band), but the lively approach here is higher and the moods shift in an unparallel way when compared to those bands. The Ayreon and Star One comparisons are also perfectly acceptable, but Hugo invests on a fastest guitar riffing and on fastest (and constant) sonic mutations. Instead of finding a base melody and stick by it while adding instruments and solos, Hugo bets on the art of shifting from melody to melody in a (sometimes) extreme way while keeping a perspective and a script without ever sounding like a collage of different tracks glued together. In the end this is perhaps the greatest achievement: each track swirls and changes but in a compact and harmonized way (even when chaos seems installed).

Overall this is a challenging album: complex, heavy, layered and completely progressive in its core. It may find its best audience in those who like all the aforementioned bands, or simply those who like quite complex gothic/prog metal with operatic female vocals. Again, great work, my friend!