Visions of Atlantis - Trinity 3/5
Reviewed: 6-29-07
Tracklist:
1. At the back of beyond
2. The secret
3. Passing dead end
4. The poem
5. Nothing left
6. My darkside home
7. Wing-shaped heart
8. Return to you
9. Through my eyes
10. Flow this desert
11. Seven seas
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I was quite impressed with Visions of Atlantis' 2nd CD 'Cast away', as I felt it showed a great deal of promise, had all the ingredients in place, contained a clear focus/direction, and was very good for its style of symphonic power metal. So I was excitied to hear the band's 3rd CD 'Trinity', and I had my fingers crossed that they'd improved even more and taken a huge step forward. Well, in a nutshell, I've found the CD to be a slight disappointment.
Within the band, there's really only one difference between 'Cast away' and 'Trinity'; female vocalist Nicole Bogner has been replaced by Melissa Ferlaak of the U.S. band Aesma Daeva, a band that I've never gotten into. I've always liked Nicole's vocals, but I must admit, Melissa's vocals are more varied and she'll surely be seen as an improvement by many fans of the band. Just like with 'Cast away', there are male vocals courtesy of Mario Plank, but while I liked his vocal contributions on 'Cast away', I've found that I'm not into him on 'Trinity' at all. I'm not sure why, as he sounds the same, but I actually hope he's gone on their next CD.
So I've got mixed feelings concerning the vocal department, but the biggest problem with 'Trinity' is, simply put, the songwriting. Track 1 "At the back of beyond" is strong, track 3 "Passing dead end" is very catchy and track 8 "Return to you" is a beautiful ballad, but the remainder of the songs have only flashes of greatness. Really, very few songs on the CD come together as a whole in excellent fashion. The majority range from average/decent to good, but overall the CD is missing the songwriting skills that bands like Nightwish (for example) have shown us many times before.
In the end, I'd still call 'Trinity' a good to solid CD, and I like that it's highly symphonic and has a polished production, but they definitely haven't taken the leap I was hoping for. I like 'Cast away' better, there's no doubt about it. I actually like the debuts from some of the younger bands like Rosa Ignea, Demether and Legenda Aurea (who are similar in style) better than 'Trinity'. I still have hope that the band can turn things around with their next CD, but in this day and age, who really knows if that will happen.
CLINT
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