VISION DIVINE SEND ME AN ANGEL
Atrheia Records - 2002
By Rodrigo
After the successful self-titled debut album not much had been heard from Vision Divine. With Fabio Lione (vocals) being busy with Rhapsody and Olaf Thörsen (guitars), Matt Stanciou (drums) and Andrew McPauls (keyboards) with Labÿrinth it seemed that maybe a second album just wasnt going to happen and that was going to be a shame. But luckily, there is a second album, Send Me An Angel, and it picks up where the band (rounded by bassist Andrea "Tower" Torricini) left off and improves on everything that made their first album so great and it leads me to this argument. Should this become the permanent band for all these guys? Considering what the last albums of Rhapsody and Labÿrinth were like, Send Me An Angel simply blows those away.
Musically, this is very similar to Labÿrinth with some differences that make it stand apart. The first obvious one is that Fabios singing is more operatic than Rob Tyrants and it fits the music better. To me Fabio sounds way more comfortable with this style of music than with Rhapsody. In "Send Me An Angel" he sounds both aggressive and melodic and it doesnt sound as exaggerated as he tried with Dawn of Victory. Plus, this is an awesome song. The chorus is awesome, the guitar and keyboard solos are beautiful and the bass and drums both sound crystal clear and tie everything together nicely. "The Call" also has some aggressive parts but mostly stays in a slower tempo in the majority of it and it has one of the best guitar solos of the entire album. "Pain" starts off with a very groovy guitar riff and is joined by a beautiful keyboard melody and then it all picks up and what you get is a really great rocking tune. One of my favorite songs is "Taste of a Goodbye" a beautiful and melodic sad love song. This is one of those simple songs that you just cant get out of your mind. The vocal melodies through out the song are stunning and during the chorus they simply rule! The best part has to be the instrumental section (1:55 2:38) because of the phenomenal keyboards that dominate the first part of it and then the great guitar solo to finish. Another song where the keyboards shine is "Black & White" not just when they take the lead but also when they are more in the background providing atmospheric sounds. Finally, just like in the last album ("The Final Countdown") we get another 80s cover song, this time its "Take On Me" by a-ha and I simply love this version. Its very faithful to the original but it does have the Vision Divine sound making it a highly addictive song.
This is yet another great album by the Italians and my only wish is that they all dedicate more time to this band because so far they have yet to disappoint. If you are a fan of their main projects I highly suggest you check out not only this album but also the last one because this is a band that more people should pay attention to.
Atrheia Records Website
Vision Divine European Official Website
Vision Divine South American Official Website
Atrheia Records - 2002
By Rodrigo
After the successful self-titled debut album not much had been heard from Vision Divine. With Fabio Lione (vocals) being busy with Rhapsody and Olaf Thörsen (guitars), Matt Stanciou (drums) and Andrew McPauls (keyboards) with Labÿrinth it seemed that maybe a second album just wasnt going to happen and that was going to be a shame. But luckily, there is a second album, Send Me An Angel, and it picks up where the band (rounded by bassist Andrea "Tower" Torricini) left off and improves on everything that made their first album so great and it leads me to this argument. Should this become the permanent band for all these guys? Considering what the last albums of Rhapsody and Labÿrinth were like, Send Me An Angel simply blows those away.
Musically, this is very similar to Labÿrinth with some differences that make it stand apart. The first obvious one is that Fabios singing is more operatic than Rob Tyrants and it fits the music better. To me Fabio sounds way more comfortable with this style of music than with Rhapsody. In "Send Me An Angel" he sounds both aggressive and melodic and it doesnt sound as exaggerated as he tried with Dawn of Victory. Plus, this is an awesome song. The chorus is awesome, the guitar and keyboard solos are beautiful and the bass and drums both sound crystal clear and tie everything together nicely. "The Call" also has some aggressive parts but mostly stays in a slower tempo in the majority of it and it has one of the best guitar solos of the entire album. "Pain" starts off with a very groovy guitar riff and is joined by a beautiful keyboard melody and then it all picks up and what you get is a really great rocking tune. One of my favorite songs is "Taste of a Goodbye" a beautiful and melodic sad love song. This is one of those simple songs that you just cant get out of your mind. The vocal melodies through out the song are stunning and during the chorus they simply rule! The best part has to be the instrumental section (1:55 2:38) because of the phenomenal keyboards that dominate the first part of it and then the great guitar solo to finish. Another song where the keyboards shine is "Black & White" not just when they take the lead but also when they are more in the background providing atmospheric sounds. Finally, just like in the last album ("The Final Countdown") we get another 80s cover song, this time its "Take On Me" by a-ha and I simply love this version. Its very faithful to the original but it does have the Vision Divine sound making it a highly addictive song.
This is yet another great album by the Italians and my only wish is that they all dedicate more time to this band because so far they have yet to disappoint. If you are a fan of their main projects I highly suggest you check out not only this album but also the last one because this is a band that more people should pay attention to.
Atrheia Records Website
Vision Divine European Official Website
Vision Divine South American Official Website
