Visions Of Atlantis - Trinity

Published May 23 2007

*=Staff's pick	At The Back Of Beyond* The Secret Passing Dead End The Poem Nothing Left My Dark Side Home Wing-Shaped Heart* Return To You Through My Eyes* Flow This Desert* Seven Seas

Genre	Symphonic Power Metal	Melissa F./Mario P.	Vocals
Tracks	11	Wolf K	Guitar
Runningtime	48 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Napalm Records	Mike Koren	Bass
Release	25 May 2007	Thomas Caser	Drums
Country	Austria	Martin Harb	Keyboard
Similar artists	Nightwish, Within Temptation, Edenbridge, Epica

But wait a minute, didn't Nightwish sack Tarja? And damn, Marco must be having a cold, oh, wait, this is NOT the new Nightwish, this is a completely different band called Visions Of Atlantis. Seriously, at first I did not know what I should write about this band, it felt like a Nightwish replica straight off. Not bad in anyway, but just simply so goddamn obvious that Nightwish is their major source of inspiration. I know I am being a bit harsh towards the Austrians, and I still like this album nonetheless despite how much Nightwish it is, but in the department of originality and own ideas they score close to zero, zip nada. Trinity is of course the third album from Visions Of Atlantis and if we start at the beginning with the opening song, At The Back Of Beyond, we find a power metal based up-tempo track with a symphonic touch. It has a grand chorus and the song is very compelling and not least very good, although you cannot escape the comparisons with Nightwish and their Once album.

Vocally, Visions Of Atlantis is sharing the duties between a male and female part, Melissa Ferlaak sings with an operatic soprano voice, even if she is not going to the full extent with it as the former Nightwish vocalist Tarja. In a song like the mid-tempo The Secret, the shared vocals work well and even if the song is more rock oriented it has a pompous feeling. Same thing goes for Passing Dead End that is more up-tempo but also a very powerful song. Although, there is too much of riffing passages and the songs leave room for much more elaborated playing, concerning leads, solos and just more melodies. I would have liked more nuances in the music, mostly the songs on Trinity feel like they are just painted with the primary color. More layers and not least a final layer with varnish to create some luster to their compositions would have worked to their favor.

Even if they are heavy on the Nightwish inspiration, it is not all like that, as they in My Dark Side Home are beating on the Within Temptation drum instead. It is a heavy track with more power put in the male vocals that turn out well in this rhythmic track which with its heaviness sounds almost like Disturbed in the verses. Wing-Shaped Heart and Through My Eyes, there you have a couple of really good tracks, and now we are dealing with some of the highlights on the album. Wing-Shaped Heart appears to be the most complete song on the album with an epic touch in an up-tempo track with a quality power metal refrain. In Through My Eyes, that has some similarities with Wing-Shaped Heart, the symphonic parts come out at their best and raises the level of Visions Of Atlantis.

A couple of ballads are to be found as well, what else? Moreover, if you have read my reviews you know that I am not that fond of these kinds of songs, so with the ballad Return To You that starts with piano and a Melissa that gets to sing out before the song gets some sleepy backing from the instruments halfway through, you can guess my opinion. Although, in The Poem that is a standard ballad molded in the general power metal shape, they get somewhat by with the convincing singing and the intriguing vocal melody lines. For this band to get by without being compared with Nightwish is for me inevitable, and as Nightwish is the undisputed leader of this flock of bands, Visions Of Atlantis will remain in their shadow, although at their very best they can almost be seen as equals. Nevertheless, I will end this review in order to leave with a positive vibe, because that is what you get from Visions Of Atlantis. Flow This Desert is a song that combines the vocals in probably the best way, and further a song where the symphonic plays the lead in a track that is powerful to say the least.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
5	1	7	7	6

Summary
5 chalices of 10 - Thomas