Apoch's Metal Review - Visions of Atlantis: Maria Magdalena CD Review

Discography	Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed.
Full-Length(s):	Eternal Endless Infinity (2002) • Cast Away (2004) • Trinity (2007) • Delta (2011)
Demo(s):	Morning in Atlantis (2000)

Review

While at this point the only Visions of Atlantis review on this site is of the album Delta, I have heard all but the band's debut offering at this time. Believe it or not I was a fan of Cast Away at one point, but as time went on and the concept of female fronted Gothic Metal bands grew more and more popular and generic, what once was an interesting concept quickly faded. While Visions of Atlantis is actually a Power Metal act, it often became a little too hard to tell the difference, and over time I grew disgusted with this group, finding little to critically praise of the act obviously, which only grew over time. But, when a new Visions of Atlantis release comes my way, I tear right into it. I acknowledge the band has potential hidden deep within that just seems to be glanced over to tickle the taste buds of those who enjoy carbon copies of Nightwish, Evanescence, and many other similar acts. Maria Magdalena makes for the band's latest offering and introduces guitarist Cris Tian (Christian, get it?) to the mix. But, does this new line-up change, a signature of the group it seems, do anything to help the band, or has the group grown at all since their last outing?

Surprisingly, yes they did. Maria Magdalena is a bit of a surprise release from the group. The audio still has that modern cleaner vibe to it, which doesn't really help out the album that much since the guitars sound moderately heavy and at a good pitch, and it really just becomes frustrating yet suiting given the varying atmospheres of this EP and how it better suits the more upbeat sounding material. The bass is present and does come through over the guitars, though it's not that strong that it makes a huge impact other then help the audio feel richer and make it a little deeper, and the drum kicks have a loud click to them that is discernable from the snares, and the cymbols sound pretty good as well. For what the band is trying to achieve it works, but you can't help but feel it could have been a lot richer and vibrant musically.

Despite that, the audio is still enjoyable and clear, and the vocals really do stand out against it. The clean female vocals sound rather emotional, as well as rather mature on here, suiting the darker tones that come through on some of the tracks perfectly, and even feel somewhat beautiful during some tracks like "Change of Tides", though this track does have it's moments where you can't help but sit back and kind of feel like certain parts, while performed low, could have been a little more passionate. The male vocals here, of course, sound really generic at times, but given the more emotional sound to the female singing, it works for having duets, but the clean male singing doesn't seem to have the same kind of drive behind them as his counterpart does this time around, going more for a mainstream sound like usual, which often doesn't work out too well here. When there's a good amount of effort put into trying to match the audio, such as on "Distant Shores", both vocals can sound great, and on that song they do.

One of the more important elements of the album is it's darker atmosphere against a rather stylish Power Metal performance. "Maria Magdalena" sets this up well, and shows off the more enthusiastic female vocals that end up sounding as passionate as the music does and even coming off a little more unique to the female fronted Metal world. The only real complaint here is the energetic male vocals that just don't fit the same passionate vibe everyone else is putting into the music, as well as comes off a bit too high pitched. Other then that this song is fantastic and does show the band starting to fall into a more original sound. "Melancholia" pushes this nicely with it's darker, more gothic atmosphere with touches of Savatage or Jon Oliva's Pain shining through nicely in the music, as well as the male vocals that match the more grim yet crazy backdrop of the music and atmosphere better then they did on "Maria Magdalena". Even when the song does pick up have that stylish upbeat sound to it, which is alright, but when it hits for the chorus it just feels like it comes in fromt out of nowhere and not transitioned too well either.

The rest of the album sounds like traditional Visions of Atlantis, but just much stronger. The music feels more complex and engaging with the vocals sounding really passionate from both vocalists, though moreso the female singing. The track "Distant Shores" really puts the band in the spotlight with a very moving track that feels like more of a melodic power ballad mixed with slower, more emotional Power Metal. There's also some layering in the vocals, but unlike how they appear on the male vocals on "Maria Magdalena", it works out well and sounds nice with the well executed female clean vocals. The chorus is also really enjoyable and plays on that sleeker sound to really create a lighter, fantastical atmosphere against the sleeker sound that the band has on this release. This ballad-like approach is carried into "Last Shut of Your Eyes", which ends up a really moving ballad that's beautiful and superbly executed vocally throughout the entire track, building up to a heavier track that kind of sheds itself from the rather moving start and comes off a bit more on the generic side, which is devastating considering how great that start is, but the vocalists still do a good job throughout the song and the music is still enjoyable with some strong guitar work thrown in to keep it a little more on the rich side.

While not every song on this EP is that great, it's definitely a strong EP either way. The band definitely feels tighter and more mature with this recording then any previous effort. The darker musical side works well with the group, the female vocals sound enthusiastic and the male clean singing is both good and bad depending the tone of and approach to the music or atmosphere of the song. You can really feel that this is the way the band should be, and that Visions of Atlantis needs to sit down and continue working on growing as a group with this line-up. And yes, the guitars here do sound stronger compared to previous efforts, making one wonder if Chris Tian was just the missing piece needed. While the title track is a cover song, the other five new songs here really do show a band that is pulling together and exploring their potential, showing that those hidden possibilities are finally being unearthed. Maria Magdalena does still show some traits common to bands like Nightwish and other female fronted groups, but the constant duets and the more passionate performances found here really gives this EP more of a unique sound that stands out for the group. If you've been a fan, you won't be let down, and even if you're not, this EP makes for a surprising release with some solid music and performances that may alter your opinion on the future direction of this band. It's not a jaw-dropping experience, but in the end it does become an enjoyable release with some good replay value.

Digital review copy of this release provided by:
Napalm Records.

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