Visions of Atlantis – Maria Magdalena

Releasedate: 21-10-2011; Label: Napalm Records
By: Martine Goffard

The Austrian band is already back, with an EP this time. The question is, now: Are they able to do anything better than the fantastic “Delta”, released in February 2011? This last album was close to perfection. Creativity, catchy tunes, brilliant solos, I couldn’t ask more from a melodic power metal band. Visions of Atlantis have been changing their singers constantly since the beginning. Here with Maxi Nil (since 2009) they have a powerful voice. She masters her vocal range and can give you thrills.

This EP, “Maria Magdalena”, holds only 6 songs. The first one, Maria Magdalena starts like an explosion. With such a lively chorus, you can’t be disappointed. It’s well-balanced, a bit too pop for a metal band still. The guitars are too far away behind. The second song, Melancholia, begins slowly. Here it’s Mario who starts to sing first, soon joined by Maxi. The fluidity of the duo, the capacity to oscillate from one to another on each line, is one of the talents of the band. The changes in the rhythms are never too abrupt. The guitars and keyboard solos are legion on the album. Each intro is particular: from the whispers of Mario on Change Of Tides to the keyboard intro, like a rock ballad, on Last Shut Of Your Eyes. This last one is probably the most accomplished song on the album. The feelings the duo brings on this love song, on a crescendo of guitars, will carry you away. The EP ends with Beyond Horizon, a slow song, soft like a white cloud, with an instrumental part to close it.
To resume, “Maria Magdalena” is a worthy successor to “Delta”. The dark point would be the lack of flight of lyricism. When “Delta” was truly epic, this one comes too close to pop. Now we can just eagerly wait for the next one!

Line up :
Thomas Caser – Drums
Werner Fiedler – Guitars
Mario Plank – Vocals
Martin Harb – Keyboards
Maxi Nil – Vocals
Cris Tian – Guitars

Tracklist: 01 Maria Magdalena 02 Melancholia 03 Change of Tides 04 Distant Shores 05 Last Shut Of Your Eyes 06 Beyond Horizon

Links:
Visions of Atlantis Facebook