Black Fate - Between Visions & Lies

Published November 28 2014

*=Staff's pick	Rhyme Of A False Orchestra* Lines In The Sand* The Game Of Illusion Into The Night In Your Eyes Call Of The Wild* State Of Conformity Without Saying A Word Perfect Crime Weight Of The World* In Fear

Genre	Progressive Melodic Metal	Vasilis Georgiou	Vocals
Tracks	11	Gus Drax	Guitar
Running time	51 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Ulterium Records	Vasilis Liakos	Bass
Release	28 November 2014	Nikos Tsintzilonis	Drums
Country	Greece	-	Keyboard
Producer	-
Similar artists	Kamelot

This is the first time I get the opportunity to check out these Greek metallers. An outfit which prior to this new record only has released 3 full length albums, starting back in 2000, which indeed proves very limited activity along the road. Reportedly the band has now created an album that is inspired by the giants of this type of music.

Between Visions & Lies isn't merely inspired by other bands, if you ask me. I would say that it more or less, in terms of vocal melodies, displays a copy of the band Kamelot. Vasilis Georgiou also has clear similarities in his appearance and range with Kamelot's current singer Tommy Karevik (also in Seventh Wonder) as well as with former singer Roy Khan, which absolutely contributes to this matter even more. Sometimes I really don't know which foot to put my weight on regarding this criterion, because I basically like the overall performance, but at the same time, this record's vocal melodies feel so close to stolen that this issue sort of gets to me a little eventually.

In a musical aspect, things luckily don't come out with the same kind of references to Kamelot. It's definitely in the same vein or category though, somewhere in the shallow borderlands between progressive and symphonic melodic metal. The similarities are anyway not so brazenly obvious that I instantly reflect upon them. The riffing by Gus Drax is impulsive, direct and frequently edgy and the band is often able to build up emotional auras alongside the music. There are many great moments on this album and therefore I have decided to hand out 7 chalices, despite the fact that a lot of the melodies clearly are imitations or at least go hand in hand with things recorded before.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
6	2	6	8	7

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Tobbe