Ethera

This is one of those cases in which after I finished listening to this album, I found myself pondering what the hell it was that I saw in these clowns before. Apparently I had thought that their previous effort was decent enough judging from my own review, but having not listened to it in quite some time, my memories of it had faded thanks to slogging through numerous similar sounding acts and the possible notion that the music just wasn't very memorable. It had to have perked my ears to some degree though, but man did Ethera force me to give Delta another spin just to find out if my overall perception of the band's style in general had altered, or if Ethera truly is a weak and watered-down followup to Delta. As it turns out, it might be a bit of both.

Featuring a new bassist and guitarist in their revolving door lineup, Visions Of Atlantis seem to be shifting away from the bloated symphonics and gearing up for some sweat-drenched hard rockin' nights with Ethera. From an engineering standpoint, the overall package is pretty crisp compared to the thick syrupy job of their previous release, thus from a strictly technical viewpoint I would imagine this would be construed as a huge improvement. Yet there is an issue, and it's pretty bothersome. Despite the clarity and professional sound, Ethera is mixed like a pop album, in that the major emphasis is on the vocals, followed by the 'beat'. Everything else is pushed back and neutered. The guitars sound warm, smooth, blunted and relatively safe. A Victoria's Secret shop could play this stuff without offending their base demographic (lower middle class broads who assume the word "PINK" looks enticing on their rotund asses), especially during the verses in which they're mixed almost as low as your typical black metal bass on more than a few occasions. The bass guitar here has almost the same level of presence as the guitars underneath the sparring vocalists and the keyboards add shimmering flourishes that often chime in a tingly manner as opposed to the relentless slurry flooding Delta. Like something from a "Yuletide Noize" collection.

With the vocals this up-front and crystal clear, they better deliver, and unlike a lot of male vocalists supporting the female centerpiece, Mario Plank doesn't fuck around. With the gruff yet sensitive pantie-moistening approach of Bryan Adams combined with the gung-ho swagger of Kenny Loggins taking us right into the danger zone, Mario is a man unleashed. Emboldened by lyrics depicting resistance and strife, he's ready to dickslap his female counterpart right off the stage and bask in the glory of the stage lighting and the crowd noise all to himself, as the audience waits for the headlining act to eventually plug in. Maxi Nil, for her part, does her best to prove her vitality with a good range and strong pop sensibilities, and she even flirts with sounding a little "tough" on a few instances, but her natural tone is a bit soft, lacking that Pat Benatar "fist-to-the-sack" bite that would have enhanced the whole AOR vibe Ethera seems to be courting.

Despite the 80s AOR revival parade going on here, it's still a metal album, but damn does it get on my nerves. I can't fault the skills of the musicians, as guitarist Cris spruces up these boring riffs with flashy little licks, and the drumming isn't mechanical despite the dominance of similar mid-tempo pacing. Take away all the little nuances and the main body of work feels cripplingly predictable and mundane. Considering a vocal-centric written tune, the hooks have to sink in and bury itself in the mind, but after several soul-crushing listens I can only remember a few of these tracks. "Machinage" has a decent riff until the verses kick in, and the final track "Cleric's Emotion" actually busts some balls with a more energetic tempo. "Tlaloc's Grace" is probably my favorite, as the vocal melodies are at least catchy and it even flirts with speedy power metal during its latter half, although I didn't actually notice it during my initial listen since I was numbed by the previous songs as well as the overall pop-oriented production that did its best to smokescreen the musical aggression.

After listening to Delta again, I'm not planning on a full-scale rewrite to eviscerate it. For all its faults, and my agreeable assessment of it has probably dropped slightly since my earlier impression, it's still pretty decent symphonic metal with enough quality tunes that I actually remembered before their choruses erupted. Ethera just doesn't grab me in the same way. The best thing I can say about it is that the lyrical content boasts superior themes than what normally conspires regarding the dual male/female dynamic. There's no "You don't bring me flowers anymore" shit to endure. Unfortunately, considering that quite a few of my favorite metal albums possess vocalists who are either barely comprehensible or singing in a language that I've never bothered to learn, it's not exactly a glowing endorsement. The talent is there, but Etherea just sort of wanders by like a fleeting experience. I suppose it's similar to how the numerous past members of Visions Of Atlantis view the band, especially since almost the entire lineup for this release has already been replaced, including the two vocalists. Time to move on.