UMUR
"Dream in Motion" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Louisiana based music artist Kirk Windstein (his first solo album). The album was released through eOne in January 2020. Windstein is predominantly known as a founding member and the lead vocalist/guitarist of sludge metal act Crowbar, but also for his involvement in acts like Down and Kingdom of Sorrow. Windstein performs vocals, guitars, and bass on the album, while producer Duane Simoneaux performs the drum and the keyboard parts.
As Windstein´s name and reputation are inevitably linked to his dominant role in Crowbar, it was my fear that "Dream in Motion" might just be a watered down version of said act, but after a few listens that fear proves unfounded. Sure this is both heavy, doomy, and melancholic music, which are all descriptors which could also be applied to Crowbar´s music, but the material on "Dream in Motion" are not as fucused on grooves and riffs, but rather on atmosphere and Windstein´s singing and melody lines. Anyone who has listened to Crowbar, knows that there are sometimes some melodic tracks featured on their albums where Windstein sings rather than shouts with his raw hardcore influenced voice, and if a comparison to Crowbar has to be made, it would be to those songs and not the heavy groove laden sludge metal that they are predominantly known for.
Tracks like the title track and "Toxic", which are in the heavy and slightly more groove laden end of the song spectrum on "Dream in Motion", are exceptions rather than the norm. The remaining tracks are usually slower, more atmospheric, and melancholic in nature, with some relatively strong singing and melody lines by Windstein. The album features nine originals and a cover of "Aqualung" by Jethro Tull. I´m sure Windstein had great fun covering that tune, but honestly the cover is a bit tame when you know the original.
"Dream in Motion" features a well sounding production job, and upon conclusion it´s a decent first solo album by Windstein. He won´t move mountains or revolutionize heavy music, but it´s an album well worth investigating for fans of heavy, doomy, and melancholic music and of course for fans of Windstein´s other projects. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.