Artist: Vescera, Michael
Label: Metal Heaven
Release: 2008
Rating: 2.5/5
Michael Vescera is the man who brought the Japanese hard rock outfit Loudness to a wider audience, in Europe and the US too. Before that he sang in Obsession, and after that he lent his vocals to the work of Yngwie J. Malmsteen. He’s also known for his solo MVP project, for working with former Helloween guitarist Roland Grapow (Masterplan), and for the short-lived Reign Of Terror. In short, quite the arsenal for one guy.
His reputation as a top-notch singer drew a whole lineup of respected names from the rock world to collaborate on the new studio album “A Sign Of Things To Come”. As you’d expect, Michael Vescera’s solo studio album is tailor-made for fans of Y.J. Malmsteen, Obsession or Loudness. It’s a seriously noisy take on hard rock, where the line between hard rock and heavy metal sometimes all but vanishes. Vescera is a classically trained pianist at heart, and you can feel it in how he writes. The guitar is so formulaically polished when it comes to the solos that it’s dangerously close to classical sheet music, the kind the unstoppable guitar-shredder Malmsteen otherwise tears through. Add to that the unmistakable symphonic, orchestral keyboard lines of Mats Olausson (Ark, Y.J. Malmsteen), and the whole thing is fueled by Vescera’s polished, clean and incredibly powerful melodic vocals, with no letting up in his singing across any register.
The album mostly serves up tracks chopped off at the highest tempos, though the last stretch grows a bit with more effective dramatic atmospheres. The power ballad (When You’re) Cryin’ is a true balm for the ears, and then some. This track has a bit of that atmospheric oomph that’s chronically missing from the record, where the guys take their foot off the gas and let a little magic breathe. It carries one of the boldest choruses on the album. It’s followed by Say the Word, a mid-tempo track with a rich wall of sound built from the main guitar phrase and curtains of keyboards, into which the solos and Vescera’s vocal lines are woven more effectively than on many other tracks here. In Pain, too, the guys keep up that effective dramatic mood, with Vescera’s vocals as its main building block in one of the most impressive choruses on the album. It’s one of the strongest compositions on the record, which the baroque-flavored, short closing instrumental Thrill Of It All then drags back down to naively instant copy-paste level.
The tracks are all pretty much equal. No peaks, no particular quality slumps. Practically any track on the album could have been used as an opener. The melodic highlights are hiding in the choruses of every single song.
The show of force is the record’s main drawback. It robs the compositions of the chance to build atmospheres and flow more dynamically. The monotonously chosen frequency of power makes this album sound hard to digest and even somewhat annoying, demanding a special kind of focus from the listener, which they have to summon on their own to put the album on (read: the “Dream Theater syndrome”). The classic molds make the songs extremely predictable, with a logical sequence of melodic motifs. Anyone looking for the bravura of dizzying feats that Vescera and his companions conjure up as if it were nothing, anyone who loves proper textbook polish and is drawn to noise and might when classical music meets a power outlet, won’t hesitate over this album. Otherwise, because it sticks so rigidly to the textbook rules, the album comes across as overly contrived and too “perfect”.
Lineup
Michael Vescera – vocals
Mats Olausson – keyboards
Jim Bell – guitar
Scott Boland – guitar
John Bruno – guitar
Todd Kennedy – backing vocals
Chris McCarvill – bass guitar
BJ Zampa – drums
Jay Mezias – drums
Tony Mei – drums
Production
Michael Vescera
Track list
1. Between Heaven and Hell
2. Sign of Things to Come
3. Shine On
4. Something to Believe
5. Crossing the Line
6. Hands of Fate
7. I’ve Seen the Light
8. Make Your Move
9. (When You’re) Cryin’
10. Say the Word
11. Pain
12. Thrill of It All
Album length:
