Not terrible. Silly and ridiculous at times, but not terrible. Their music could prove to be mind-blowing and exciting for someone twenty years younger than me. For my generation of thirty-something metal geezers, however, this comes across as if a talented high school Glee Club or Drama Club decided to experiment with prog metal - - and ended up creating something their Glee Club/Drama Club/Home Ec teacher would love. Think Symphony X. meets Annie: The Musical.

On their second album, "Crime Scene", it sounds like Dakrya are shooting for a scathing, satyrical critique of society's dark side, keeping the synth locked on the carnival organ tone selection, with lead vocalist Thomais C. (female) trading Showtunes-style dramatic vocal performances with the occasionally equally hammy growls of George D., who's also on guitar. Unfortunately, the over-the-top, earnest, self-important theatricality doesn't bring shattering revelations or conjure sweeping visions of a ghastly carnival society, it summons visualizations of cheesy low-budget stage productions. The music sounds like the anthems for the villains or the tricksters in an Alice in Wonderland style play. I keep expecting masked dancers to jump out from behind a cardboard tree and flash jazz hands.

OK, I've taken the thumping too far. Dakrya are certainly talented. Thomais has the vocal ability (and the looks) to handle a major role in any musical theater at any level. The rest of the band's music-making instincts are solid. The level of quality throughout the album is consistent, with a strong peak in the excellent ‘Blind Man's Bluff’ (if you can get past the "weird sounds, evil clowns" lyric). That's really the only standout track for me, unfortunately. The songs are fairly well executed, but not as avant-garde or mind-bending as they'd need to be to pull this off, especially with all of the "jazz hands!" moments. If there's some kind of irony or sense of humor behind their Ultra-Hokey approach, then I missed it.