Stranger Vision
Poetica

Label: Pride & Joy Music
Three similar bands: Helloween/Gamma Ray/Hammerfall

Rating: HHHHHHH (4/7)
Reviewer: Daniel Källmalm
Tracks
1. Awakening Prelude
2. Gates Of Tomorrow
3. Human Change
4. Soul Redemption
5. Never Give Up
6. Memories Of You
7. The Dying Light
8. Rage
9. Over And Over
10. Before The Law
11. Wish
12. Defying Gravity
13. Hero Of The New World
14. Invictus
15. Soul Redemption (Deep Version)


Band:
Ivan Adami - vocals
Riccardo Toni - guitars
Gabriele Sarti - keyboard
Daniele Morini - bass
Luca Giacopini - drums


Discography:
Debut


Guests:
Fabio Dessi - vocals on “Hero Of The New World”
Alessia Scolletti - vocals on “Memories Of You”
Guido Benedetti - guitar solo on “Rage”
Alessandro Conti - vocals on “Rage”
Zak Stevens -vocals on “Before The Law”


Info:
Recorded at at Domination Studio in San Marino
Produced by Simone Bertozzi
Mixed & mastered by Simone Mularoni

Released 2021-03-26
Reviewed 2021-05-08

Links:
strangervisionband.com
youtube
bandcamp
pride & joy


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Poetica, I guess you could suspect some poetry from the debut album by Italian band Stranger Vision. Perhaps it could also be some exciting stranger musical visions on display, Italians often put together fascinating stuff and can boast about many great bands. Some of those great bands are represented as guests with Stranger Vision, bands like Temperance, Trick or Treat, Twilight Force and more. Zak Stevens also does a guest vocal spot on the album that is masterfully mastered and mixed by the great Simone Mularoni.

On the subject of the style I cannot claim that their name really represent them, there are no strange visions to be heard here more of a more classical and very melodic style of heavy metal. Catchy songs with distinct choruses and good vocals. It is over an hour long, that is long even though the album is pretty varied over the fifteen tracks. It is good to spice it up with guest singers as they add some variation to the feel. But there are no surprises here and the sense of novelty is nowhere to be find, I think most that hear it will think that it sounds very familiar and not like something new and fresh that they haven’t heard before.

Enough quality to be passable, to be good even. The excellent sound and good songs make for easy listening, pretty entertaining as well. It is an album that is easy to like and many will find it more than agreeable, but it doesn’t really stand up as well to more scrutiny considering the lack of fresh idea and the constant familiarity through the entire album. It is one more of those that doesn’t really feel like listening to something new, the sense of novelty is one of the more important aspects for an album that want to impress and make an impression. This is a bit too much according to format and too little thinking outside the box, I doubt it will make more than a marginal impression.

This album is too good to be rated on the lower half of the scale, but I really weighted to give this album such a rating for a long time. It is hard to really see why such albums are made and who will really bother with it for more than a shorter while. This album will never make an impact and no one will see it as their favourite album in any category, it is one of those that makes up the numbers and while it is fine and everything it will never be played by me again as I so many album that are better, at least fifty of them released just this year.

HHHHHHH