Vision Divine Stream of Consciousness
Metal Blade 3984-14490-2 04.05.04
By Anna Novitzky
Im wearing a corset today. I must be light-headed from lack of oxygen. Thats the only explanation I can think of for the disturbing fact that I rather like this album, and Ive got no idea why.
Its the little things that make Stream of Consciousness stand that tiny bit above the crowd. Theres nothing obvious to stop this being exactly the kind of self-important, unoriginal power metal album that I absolutely detest, and yet its strangely enjoyable. Perhaps its in the unintelligible mumbling on opener Stream of Unconsciousness, faintly reminiscent of Type O Negatives asides to the audience on October Rust; perhaps its in the simplistic acoustic-and-piano splendour of closer Identities. Maybe its just that Vision Divine are Italian, which automatically makes everything they do seem that bit deeper and more romantic than anyone else. More likely, its their ever so slightly less pompous than usual attitude that sees them through. Rather than the standard our-music-is-the-most-important-thing-ever approach to power metal, Vision Divine seem to come at this recording with a chirpily self-deprecating air, as if they might possibly be having fun. This attitude, similar to devil-may-care cock-rockers Brides of Destruction, whom they also resemble on certain songs, even manages to carry them through such embarrassing moments as track 7, "Versions Of The Same", sounding spookily like Flashdance. And that takes some doing.
Of course, its not all good. They dont exactly break much musical ground, and the album is peppered with all the old metal clichés we know and love. However, its a very decent effort, and we should definitely keep half an eye on Vision Divine. Plus their keyboard player is called Oleg Smirnoff. How cool is that?
6/10
Official Vision Divine website
Official Metal Blade records website
Metal Blade 3984-14490-2 04.05.04
By Anna Novitzky
Im wearing a corset today. I must be light-headed from lack of oxygen. Thats the only explanation I can think of for the disturbing fact that I rather like this album, and Ive got no idea why.
Its the little things that make Stream of Consciousness stand that tiny bit above the crowd. Theres nothing obvious to stop this being exactly the kind of self-important, unoriginal power metal album that I absolutely detest, and yet its strangely enjoyable. Perhaps its in the unintelligible mumbling on opener Stream of Unconsciousness, faintly reminiscent of Type O Negatives asides to the audience on October Rust; perhaps its in the simplistic acoustic-and-piano splendour of closer Identities. Maybe its just that Vision Divine are Italian, which automatically makes everything they do seem that bit deeper and more romantic than anyone else. More likely, its their ever so slightly less pompous than usual attitude that sees them through. Rather than the standard our-music-is-the-most-important-thing-ever approach to power metal, Vision Divine seem to come at this recording with a chirpily self-deprecating air, as if they might possibly be having fun. This attitude, similar to devil-may-care cock-rockers Brides of Destruction, whom they also resemble on certain songs, even manages to carry them through such embarrassing moments as track 7, "Versions Of The Same", sounding spookily like Flashdance. And that takes some doing.
Of course, its not all good. They dont exactly break much musical ground, and the album is peppered with all the old metal clichés we know and love. However, its a very decent effort, and we should definitely keep half an eye on Vision Divine. Plus their keyboard player is called Oleg Smirnoff. How cool is that?
6/10
Official Vision Divine website
Official Metal Blade records website
