Vision Divine “The Broken Past” for #METALMOMENTUM
Band: Vision Divine
Title: The Broken Past (Single)
Label: Scarlet Records
Release date: August 1st, 2024
Country: Italy
Format reviewed: High-Quality Digital Promo
Single Review:
Vision Divine – “The Broken Past” (single) : A Glorious Prelude to Angels’ Redemption and Rebirth.
“The Italians Vision Divine, led by the legendary maestro Olaf Thorsen, will release their highly anticipated double concept album whose first installment will be “Blood and Angels’ Tears”, on September 20, 2024.
The first single from the album, “The Broken Past”, with an epic story of fallen angels and a stellar line-up that includes Ray Alder and Allesandro Conti as luxury guests, is an incredible first taste of what will be the best banquet of 2024 as far as Melodic Power Metal is concerned – and which promises to become the band’s best work in their 26-year career”. (By Elyna Steel)
Wonderful news comes from Italy, the land of melodic power metal par excellence. The iconic Vision Divine, led by guitar maestro, composer and lyricist Olaf Thorsen along with Federico Puleri (on guitars), Alessio Lucatti (piano, keyboards), Andrea “Tower” Torrini (on bass), Matt Peruzzi (on drums ) and the incredible Ivan Giannini on vocals will release their new studio album. It will be the ninth in their discography – and the second with Ivan on vocals after “When All The Heroes Are Dead”, released in 2019.
And it will be as good as it gets: a gloriously epic double conceptual album whose first installment is “Blood and Angels’ Tears”, composed of 11 chapters.
The narrative of this promising first part will place us in ancient mythical times, before human civilization even existed, revolving around three Angels – Asar, Kah-Kl-Han and Ahreman – expelled from Heaven for having hesitate during the fiercest conflict of all time, the cataclysmic war between Lucifer and the Archangel Michael, archetypes of darkness and light, evil and good, according to the official version. Although, since there were no direct witnesses to this war, the true nature of these “events” and the true identities of both characters remain hidden by a veil of mystery, by the way.
The release date for “Blood and Angels’ Tears” is September 20, 2024, by Scarlet Records.
And if all this were not enough, the boys have just given us a wonderful single and the respective video clip for Chapter XI, “The Broken Past”. The cherry on top is the participation of two luxury guests; the legendary Ray Alder (Fates Warning) as the angel Kah-Kl-Han and the incredible Allesandro Conti (Twilight Force, Trick Or Treat) as Ahreman. Ivan Giannini plays Asar and completes this majestic plethora of vocal talent and interpretive strength.
The story centers on the long separation of these three brothers. After being in the wilderness for ages, Asar and Ahremar try to reach Kah-Kl-Han out to tell him that war is imminent, asking him to remember who they were and what decisions they made in the past that led them away from their rightful home. Meanwhile, Kah-Kl-Han perceives these whispers as ghostly echoes, faceless yet familiar voices. Still, Asar and Ahremar fail to persuade him to abandon his lonely vigil in the Far West. They insist, he asks them more time to think it through. Finally he realizes the whispers are his brothers calling to battle in an attempt to redeem themselves and demonstrate they are not indecisive pushovers but powerful Angels…and along they three go, together, fearless, uniting their strength and swords again forevermore.
The idea of “remembering what we are” resonated hard in my mind. Remembering the intrinsic power that we as spiritual beings are. And no, I am not referring to anything religious: whether we agree or not, if we are divided in a reverse cascade into each of the particles that make us up and we reach the most basic ones (quarks, gluons, etc.) we will reach the photon state, which is nothing other than energy, light. We are spiritual beings dressed in material armor and it is in our essence the power to reverse any adverse situation that is presented to us. That power that resides in each of us. This is what Asar and Ahremar ask Kha-Kl-Han to remember and thus, unite, fight and win – the same thing we should all do together; remember what we are, unite and fight the darkness, whatever its true nature is. “A thought-provoking, epic journey” is what this narrative represents, guys! Wonderful.
The composition runs for 04:05′, is set at a delightful fast pace with dynamic time signature and haunting melodies. A drum roll gives the go-ahead, followed by the rhythmic and melodic base, featuring impressive galloping riffs and heavenly keyboards. Ivan makes his entrance after the classic keyboard bridge, signature of the band. And Ivan truly delivers: he is a volcano in human form, vocally personifying whatever is presented to him. Ray joins in during the pulse-quickening pre-chorus, masterfully playing the Guardian Angel of the Far East In the fast first chorus, Alle Conti joins Ivan, singing alternating lines – what an impressive voice this man has! Yes, everyone already knows it but Alle Conti ‘s voice is always jaw-dropping!
In the following verses, the voices alternate, adding a refreshing dynamism to the overall vocal line. This leads into a beautiful and intimate pre-chorus where Ivan and Ray exchange vocal lines, setting the stage for the second chorus with Ivan and Ale. Then the vibrant guitar solo gives way to Vision Divine’s trademark keyboard solo, taking on a darker tone in this section. Then, the three voices join together in a masterful, harmonious and emotional bridge. The final chorus raises both tone and tempo, with Alle, Ivan and Ray delivering a striking rendition. The track concludes with powerful riffs and rolls and dramatic keyboards, closing the journey with a guitar sustain, hallmark of maestro Thorsen.
In short, with an impressive lineup that includes the legendary Ray Alder and the powerful Allesandro Conti, along with the exceptional Ivan Giannini, the album’s first single, “The Broken Past” seamlessly combines Vision Divine’s renowned epic narrative and melodic and rhythmic dynamics. It is an incredible first taste of what will be one of the best Power Metal releases of 2024. Furthermore, I have a hunch that this double album will be the corollary of Vision Divine, the best work in its 26 years of existence. The lyrical concept along with the visual artistic narrative around Angels and Demons, heaven and hell is a theme that, I consider, the band in some way owed to itself and its fans, and I feel that they finally dared to address it- they are the divine vision of power metal, for God’s sake!
So I look forward next month to discover this long awaited treasure from our endearing warriors, while I fall into a daily loop listening to the adventure of these three angels waiting for their redemption in heaven. 10/10 by Elynna Steel
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