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.

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