Vision Divine - Stream Of Consciousness

Year of Release: 2004
Label: Scarlet Records
Catalog Number: SC 083-2
Format: CD
Total Time: 60:00:00

Have you ever had the desire to see the world through the eyes of God? Could you handle that or would it drive you insane? That is the question the Italian prog metal formation Vision Divine answers on their third album Stream Of Consciousness, a concept album that will take you to the depths of your soul. Here we also have the explanation (?) of the name of the band, a band which started out as the solo project of Labyrinth guitarist Olaf Thörsen, who was quickly joined by Fabio Lione (Rhapsody) on vocals. However, Vision Divine was not just a side project and is now the main band of Thörsen. Unfortunately Fabio Lione left the band during the work on Stream Of Consciousness. His place was filled by Michele Luppi. The line up is completed by Andrea "Tower" Torricini (bass), Matteo Amoroso (drums) and Oleg Smirnoff (yes, from Russia, keyboards).

Stream Of Consciousness is a concept album that will take the listener on a trip through their mental state, searching for the real meaning of life (not the Monty Python one). The band takes you on a musical rollercoaster, with some nice bumps on the way. The intro of the album, "Stream Of Unconsciousness," is where the character of the story hears a song on the radio and sings along with it. Then the fantastic heavy guitar kicks in, along with some fast double bass stuff, although it stays away from the aggressive chaos. The whole album is filled with clean prog/power metal stuff. Nothing over the top, but the band is totally in control of the sound. Vocalist Luppi turns out to be one hell of a great vocalist, somewhat close to Ian Parry, as he has a powerful yet pleasant voice, clean, as you wish. The keys add the progressive parts to the music and are very well placed in the songs.

The album counts three instrumental songs, the first being "In The Light," which lasts only a minute and is filled with ethereal keyboards, to be followed by "Fallen Feather," which excels in fabulous guitar arrangements, a bit ballad like. In "La Vita Fugge," the power metal rises up, with crunchy guitar riffs and fast double bass, followed by equally fast keys, in the vein of Rhapsody, yet not imitating them. This is one of those bumps in the ride ... but a nice one! More power metal (and bumps) are found in the very neo classical sounding "Shades," where we hear a bit of Malmsteen passing by. The last two instrumentals are placed together: "Fool's Garden" and "The Fall Of Reason," the first one, again short and filled with keys only, the second again short, but this time with the whole set of musicians and flowing over into "Out Of The Maze." The ride ends with "Identities," a true gem in metal and a fantastic ballad, with piano, orchestration and tasty guitars.

Although I expected a much heavier album from this band, listening to Stream Of Consciousness turned out to be quite a nice experience and the band released one hell of a great album. It did not knock me off my feet, but hey, [it's an] excellent metal album, with strong, balanced songs and an intriguing story. The artwork looks really cool and the overall sound/production is very good. You want metal and good songs? Here you have it! Strong prog metal with some touches of power metal. Highly recommended!

[This review originally appeared May 2004 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]
Tracklisting:
Chapter I: Stream Of Concoiusness / Chapter II: Secret Of Life / Chapter III: Colours Of My World / Chapter IV: In The Light / Chapter V: The Fallen Feather / Chapter VI: La Vita Fugge / Chapter VII: Versions Of The Same / Chapter VIII: Through The Eyes Of God / Chapter IX: Shades / Chapter X: We Are, We Are Not / Chapter XI: Fool's Garden / Chapter XII: The Fall Of Reason / Chapter XIII: Out Of The Maze / Chapter XIV: Identities

Musicians:
Michele Luppi - vocals
Olaf Thorsen - guitars
Oleg Smirnoff - keyboards
Marco Amoroso - drums
Andrea Tower Torricini - bass

Discography:
Vision Divine (1999)
Send Me An Angel (2002)
Stream Of Consciousness (2004)

Genre: Progressive-Power Metal

Origin IT

Added: December 18th 2004
Reviewer: Marcel Haster
Score:
Artist website: www.visiondivine.com
Hits: 2164
Language: english