Vision Divine- The Perfect Machine |
Published Oct. 18 2006
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The Perfect Machine* |
| Genre | Prog. Power Metal |
Michele Luppi
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Vocals
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| Tracks | 9 |
Olaf Thörsen
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Guitar
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| Runningtime | 52 Min. |
Federico Puleri
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Guitar
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| Label | Scarlet Records |
Cristiano Bertocchi
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Bass
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| Release | 22 Nov. 2005 |
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Drums
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| Country | Italy |
Alessio Lucatti
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Keyboards
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| Similar artists | Labÿrinth, Threshold, Dream Theater | ||
Italian progressive power metal act Vision Divine under the leadership of front man Olaf Thörsen are back with their fourth album, The Perfect Machine. And just as the previous Stream of Consciousness this is also a concept story, this time based on the unique discovery of a genius scientist that gives man eternal life, thus creating the perfect machine and the dreadful consequences that followed. I have to say that this tale is one of the absolute best self thoughtout concept stories I've ever read and Thörsen really reaches closer to genius status for every new album (For complete storyboard: http://www.visiondivine.com/site) The man very rarely leaves melody and intelligent compositional directions out of the equation and Vision Divine really impresses me when it comes to always seeming willing to develop their sound and for each release the maturing development also seem to continue. This new album of course as always suffers a decidedly progressive flavoured bite but a facet best described as power metal AOR has also infiltrated the sound frame. This somewhat new feature really brings some new and fresh innovating ideas to the genre without the whole deal straying too far away from the sonical signature of the band. As always delightful, clean and catchy keyboards mix with full bodied technical guitar riffing and great vocals at front and centre and there's no hiding that this band really consists of impeccable musicianship in every position.
The story constantly drives the album along and the material is good enough to keep things interesting throughout without really kicking you square in the teeth. The most sonically mind expanding material here is absolutely the eight minute opening title track that after having started out with some great keyboard playing provides a powerful chorus and intense duelling between Thörsen and Lucatti, never causing momentum to be lost. The Ancestor's Blood turns things a bit more agressive and here Thörsen throws in one of his more prominent solos on the album. A still quite complex song but definitely keeping the great melody lines intact. Land of Fear presents a more hard rock oriented side, delivering a very rhythmic verse section, a catchy chorus and some really great vocals by Michele Luppi. Some real interesting and futuristic sounding keys, soleful vocals some heavy bass lines and riffing dominate God Is Dead while The River pushes the accelerator and showcases the band's more power metal attitude. Here In 6048 is the ballad of the album but still a very good one. I especially favour the more up tempo parts towards the end of the song that somewhat makes it a two parted outing. Mixing hard rock and power metal, Now That You're Gone concludes the album with a darker atmospherical touch, gives us a great instrumental middle section and rounds out the deal in a very good way.
Seen as a whole The Perfect Machine is perhaps slightly better than the previous Stream of Consciousness and contains lots of good deliveries worth revisiting without really bursting at the seams with jaw dropping material. Michele Luppi proved to be a very worthy replacement for Fabio Leone already on the former album and here on The Perfect Machine he's really showing great abilities again. It also seems that the tracks are composed to revolve much more around his vocal abilities and sound of his voice this time and that of course is a very big contributing factor to a good performance. Olaf Thörsen once again demonstrates what a really great guitarist/songwriter he is and that he always seems willing to develop and explore the musical direction the band should take. The album has been produced by Timo Tolkki who's completed a powerful and tight effort and the progressive edged power metal sound has been well nourished in the control room and every instrument has been given enough room to shine. The concept story itself raises questions of belief, meaning of life, ethics, perfectionism, strong emotions and what dire consequences a noble thing as the creation of a better world could have when you alter the natural turning of the wheel of time. Conclusively, The Perfect Machine may not be the perfect album but I still find myself lacking the real important ammunition not to recommend it to fans of progressive power metal. Vision Divine continue to deliver good and solid albums with pure conviction and resolve.
See
also review of: Destination
Set To Nowhere , Send
Me An Angel
See also: Song
By Song Commentary
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Production
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Vocals
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Compositions
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8,5 |
7,5 |
7 |
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Summary
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7,5 chalices of 10 - Mat |
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