Visions and Reality
Visions and Reality
| 1. "Visions..." 2. "Deeper Ground" 3. "Left Alone" 4. "Fallen Reasons" 5. "Miracles of a Master's Child" 6. "Eternal Light" 7. "Written in Stone" 8. "Wait" 9. "Into the Realms of Unknown" 10. "Rebellion and Indecision" 11. "...and Reality" |
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| Recent Releases by Ivanhoe Visions and Reality (1994) Symbols of Time (1995) |
Recommended Bands (In same Sound) Threshold Megellan Dream Theater |
| This will be a short review because I'm sick and tired of reviewing all the Dream Theater/Queensryche clones that infest progressive metal. I don't even know if these clones can even be considered "progressive", mainly because "progressive" means "forward thinking" and there isn't anything forward thinking about clones and copycats.. The thing is, most of these clones are pretty close to being good or, in some cases, great if they could just change one or two things. Maybe it is the vocal melodies or maybe the guitar is too this or the keys are too that, whatever the case may be, many of these bands actually show some talent but miss the target by inches. In Ivanhoe's case, they miss the mark because their vocalist sucks. It's a shame, too, because everything else is good, the music is excellent and the vocal melodies are sound, even bordering on catchy but the vocalist sounds like he is being tortured. Imagine Geoff Tate of Queensryche having his fingernails pulled off while trying to sing "Take Hold of the Flame", that is Ivanhoe's vocalist. |
| The cd starts off good enough with the cool instrumental "Visions...", which blends into the second song "Deeper Ground". "Deeper Ground" pounds at first but slows done and the vocals begin. Now, the vocals start off promising enough but they soon turn to an annoying screech. Things don't get any better on the third track, "Left Alone". The music is good and the vocal melodies are strong but the vocals make my teeth ache. "Fallen Reasons" (the fourth song) is, again, solid musically but those damn vocals...and so it goes for the rest of the cd (eleven tracks in all). |
This album could've been very good if a better
vocalist was present or if Ivanhoe's vocalist had stayed in a lower vocal range, he is
only bad when singing in the higher range which, unfortunately, is most of the album. The
music is good, invoking images of Queensryche and Dream Theater and to be fair, I'm not
familiar with Ivanhoe's other releases so maybe it is just this album that is vocally
weak. If screechy vocals don't bother you, you may end up really enjoying this album. As
for me, I can barely stand it. Hey, I tried. |
