Hope & Fear is the brand new release from the outfit going by the name of Vision, and they are comprised of Sean P. Gahgan (guitars, keyboards), Nefarious (vocals), Azrael (bass) and Alex Kai (drums). The album is part heavy metal, part prog, and part good old fashioned melodic rock. The press sheet lists similarities to Meat Loaf, Crimson Glory, Kamelot, and Queen, and while I'm not sure I hear any of those I do sort of get where they are coming from. Nefarious has a voice, especially when he's hitting the upper register, that sounds a tad like vintage Meat Loaf or Midnight from Crimson Glory at times, but that's about as far as I'd go with those comparisons. The arrangements are quite heavy and bombastic in spots, with the keyboards and guitar riffs huge and 'film score-like' on occasion, especially on the wild "Wailing Deth", one of the more outrageous tunes here, complete with Nefarious doing all sorts of high pitched wails, screams, growls, and bellows. "Edge of the World Rising" is solid progressive metal, with Gahgan's swirling, complex guitar & keyboard lines wrapping around each other over crushing rhythms, and for a more symphonic take on the metal genre you can't go wrong with the title track, which has some powerful vocals from Nefarious. Other highlights include the melodic rock gem "Lost Child", the lovely acoustic 1-2 punch of "Autumn" and "Winter's Fall", the Queensryche influenced "Fathom" (featuring some awesomely heavy riffs), the classic metal attack of "The Edge", and the complex progressive metal track "Crimson Skies". The latter is chock full of soaring vocals, symphonic keyboards, and blistering guitar work.
Anyone into bombastic & melodic progressive metal would be well advised to look into Hope & Fear. Vision has given us a very enjoyable release here, an album with many nuances and characteristics that will warrant repeat spins to fully appreciate all the musical complexities going on. In addition, each song basically has its own little storyline (info on each is given in the booklet), making Hope & Fear a nice surprise here at the tail end of 2012.
Track Listing
1) Spero Timor
2) Wailing Deth
3) Edge of the World Rising
4) Hope & Fear
5) Lost Child
6) Autumn
7) Winter's Fall
8) Rush
9) Fathom
10) The Edge
11) Crimson Skies
12) Fear & Hope
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