Progressive Power Metal: Vision Divine - The Perfect Machine (2005)

68 / 100

The Perfect Machine is Vision Divine shifting further into a progressive-leaning direction, but with drier energy and fewer emotional peaks.

Vision Divine entered yet another new chapter within a year with a guitarist change for the release of their fourth album, The Perfect Machine. Even though it carries the word "perfect", the robotic angel displayed on the cover looks quite the opposite which is more like a broken machine that likely won’t operate the way it once did. Hm, that feels logical to me, because some of the energy projected here is not the type I enjoy.

Most of the tracks feel mid-tempo with the synthetic, progressive-styled emotion coming from Oleg’s keyboards and Michele’s vocals, starting right from “1st Day of a Never-ending Days”. So I think Vision Divine focused more on progressive metal/rock with a power metal foundation that feels rather dry. But is that automatically bad? Not really. There are still some tracks that perform quite well, including “The Perfect Machine” at the front gate as a very fitting opener both in character and atmosphere to hook the listener. Then “God is Dead” stands out as another highlight with its satisfying guitar rhythm. Two more tracks below it are “Ancestor’s Blood” and “The River”. Oh, and unlike Stream of Consciousness, this album doesn’t have conceptual instrumental links, so the nine tracks stand independently from each other.

So, I will take those four songs, and for the rest, I don’t feel like thinking too hard to revisit them, except for “1st Day of a Never-ending Days”, which is wrapped in classical music and surprisingly bright in tone. Thus, The Perfect Machine represents a slower, more classic-leaning side compared to its three predecessors.

Comments

Breakcore: Subheroine - End. (2025)

77 / 100 End. is Subheroine ’s most immersive and emotionally textured work yet ... Is being a week late enough to make a new release feel cold and stale? Maybe it’s the effect of our fast-paced modern world and the FOMO trend. Who knows. Whatever. Alright then, let’s welcome a new breakcore/drum & bass album (though it runs under 30 minutes) from Subheroine : End. ! End. by SUBHEROINE Released just on November 7 via Japan’s veteran breakcore label, Lost Frog Productions , End . delivers a noticeably more atmospheric vibe this time. So, tagging it as atmospheric drum & bass makes perfect sense, while the “depressive” tag seems to apply only to the cover art. But is that really the case? As always, there are surprises when reviewing music—those unexpected moments that make certain tracks sound more intriguing than expected. The most prominent depressive elements appear in the sampled voice of an anime girl sounding shocked or weakened in...

Soundtrack: Dragica Kahlina - Ava Chapter 1 OST (2022)

78 / 100 A compelling dark ambient soundtrack , best enjoyed by fans of atmospheric and cosmic soundscapes rather than traditional game OST seekers. Ava is a mobile puzzle game inspired by tarot cards , developed by Stardust LLC . It was released in four chapters, rolled out periodically between February 2020 and the first quarter of 2021. While there’s a claim that the game won an award, it was never explained exactly where or what it won. For the soundtrack of Chapter 1, Stardust LLC collaborated with local, Zurich-based artist Dragica Kahlina . Ava Chapter 1 OST by Dragica Kahlina Although the game came out in 2020, Kahlina only uploaded the OST two years later on Bandcamp , using cover art from Level 11: The Crown that features Ava herself. The atmosphere of darkness and cosmic vastness is strongly felt throughout the eleven tracks, built primarily on dark ambient foundations and layered with various sounds: echoing stick-like noises...

Avant-Garde: 1024756 - Dead Star Escape (2022)

65 / 100 A dense and dizzying journey into experimental and avant-garde territory, Dead Star Escape trades conventional structure for abstract textures and jazz-inflected grooves, shifting far from 1024756 ’s earlier hip-hop/soul leanings. Best suited for listeners who crave disorienting, free-form soundscapes rather than playlist-friendly tracks. Dead Star Escape is yet another abstract single from Brisbane , Australia’s experimental/avant-garde project 1024756 , even though neither genre tag appears on their Bandcamp page. Released on May 5, 2022, this track marks the artist’s second single. AUM173.3 - DEAD STAR ESCAPE by 1024756 Running for seven minutes, the song opens with the roar of machinery from a synth drifting in outer space, layered with the hum of alien waves. This slowly transforms into avant-garde rock territory, driven by drums and bass, with an array of keyboards and synths in a jazz-like manner, though notably without an...

Search This Blog