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│ METAL CLASSICS ARCHIVE │
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│ P R E S E N T S │
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│ + Vanden Plas - Chronicles Of The Immortals-Netherworld (Part1 + │
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│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Information ║ │
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│║ ║ │
│║ Release Date.Mar-23-2014 Encoder......L3.97 -V2 --vbr-new ║ │
│║ Genre........Metal Graber.......EAC ║ │
│║ Year.........2014 Khz/Bitrate..44,1/ Br ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Ripper.......anthem Songs........10 ║ │
│║ Covers.......Yes Url... www.vandenplas.de ║ │
│║ ║ │
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│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Notes ║ │
│╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Artist : Vanden Plas Rating : You Decide! ║ │
│║ Album : Chronicles Of The Immortals-NeLabel : Frontiers ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Description : ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Consistency and stability are not typically the ║ │
│║ first two traits people think of when they hear ║ │
│║ the term progressive metal. If you add ║ │
│║ Christianity to that, many will would say that ║ │
│║ no such band exists. For a band whose debut was ║ │
│║ nearly 20 years ago Vanden Plas remain one of ║ │
│║ the only bands that I can name that have never ║ │
│║ had a single lineup change. This consistency is ║ │
│║ possibly part of the reason why their albums ║ │
│║ seem to have a certain flow to them and there ║ │
│║ hasn't been any drastic experimentation with ║ │
│║ rapping, sampling, dubstep, nu-metal, or a ║ │
│║ plethora of the other things that many of the ║ │
│║ big named progressive metal bands have tried in ║ │
│║ the past or are continuing to attempt. In my ║ │
│║ honest opinion, Vanden Plas is a truly unique ║ │
│║ gem in the prog metal rough that for some reason ║ │
│║ has yet to really get the credit they deserve ║ │
│║ for remaining true to themselves. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Another factor that bands have to deal with is ║ │
│║ the amount of time between their albums. Often ║ │
│║ having a 3 or 4 year gap between albums can come ║ │
│║ out extremely refreshing and a candidate for one ║ │
│║ of the best albums of the year, other times a ║ │
│║ band truly is out of ideas and by the time a ║ │
│║ mediocre albums comes out their fanbase has ║ │
│║ already forgotten about them forcing many of ║ │
│║ them to reevaluate their career choices. With ║ │
│║ Vanden Plas we have seen that these breaks ║ │
│║ between albums have always managed to keep them ║ │
│║ fresh sounding, considering each album typically ║ │
│║ has a 3 to 4 year gap in between. With the ║ │
│║ Seraphic Clockwork in 2010, we saw Vanden Plas ║ │
│║ continuing with their dark, yet religious and ║ │
│║ conceptual brand of progressive metal, with the ║ │
│║ eerie yet the melodic vocals of Andy Kuntz along ║ │
│║ with rather clean guitar parts and complex ║ │
│║ keyboards. When I heard that they would be ║ │
│║ releasing what appears to be a two part album ║ │
│║ early in 2014 called Chronicles of the ║ │
│║ Immortals: Neverworld (Path 1), I was extremely ║ │
│║ excited and was expecting it to be one of the ║ │
│║ best albums I am going to hear in the entire ║ │
│║ year. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ From the first track you can tell that the album ║ │
│║ is split up into 10 different visions dealing ║ │
│║ with the apocalyptic battle between heaven and ║ │
│║ hell. The protagonist of the story has to decide ║ │
│║ which side he should follow based on his ║ │
│║ visions. This already sounds like a great ║ │
│║ concept for an album, considering Vanden Plas ║ │
│║ has been more than capable of taking religious ║ │
│║ subject matter and convey it without coming off ║ │
│║ as overly cheesy as many other bands do. The ║ │
│║ rest of the first track 1ne is basically just ║ │
│║ piano and some vocals. The idea of this opener ║ │
│║ was obviously just to explain the concept of the ║ │
│║ album, as over half of it is spoken word. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ The Black Knight starts off with some distorted ║ │
│║ riffs on top of Andy's trademark and easily ║ │
│║ recognizable melodic vocals. The track seems ║ │
│║ like its a debate on the topic of where we all ║ │
│║ go after we die, which always hits most people a ║ │
│║ little close to home, add an extremely emotional ║ │
│║ guitar solo halfway through the track and you ║ │
│║ already have a continuation of what Vanden Plas ║ │
│║ has been known for the past 20 years. The piano ║ │
│║ leads towards the end are absolutely beautiful ║ │
│║ and it leads back into the same guitar riff and ║ │
│║ spends the last half minute or so with light ║ │
│║ children's choir vocals fading out into the next ║ │
│║ song. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Godmaker, which is the single and video off of ║ │
│║ the album starts off pretty heavy with a ║ │
│║ relatively harsh and headbangable guitar riff. ║ │
│║ This song easily sets a high standard for the ║ │
│║ rest of the album. From first listen its ║ │
│║ extremely memorable, once again has an extremely ║ │
│║ clean and emotional guitar solo, within the last ║ │
│║ 30 seconds Andy hits some of the highest vocals ║ │
│║ I have ever heard him sing, and once again fades ║ │
│║ out to some very beautiful unaccompanied piano. ║ │
│║ It is almost very easy to admit that this is one ║ │
│║ of the strongest tracks on the album. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ The fifth vision, entitled A Ghost's Requiem is ║ │
│║ a piano ballad which begins with very dainty ║ │
│║ sounding female vocals which is then accompanied ║ │
│║ by church choir vocals. It takes about 3 minutes ║ │
│║ to get to any of Andy's vocals and an additional ║ │
│║ 30 seconds before any other instruments are ║ │
│║ added. Honestly this isn't a bad song, but for ║ │
│║ me it takes way too long to build up and when it ║ │
│║ does it is for a very short amount of time, ║ │
│║ which in the end kind of leaves one unsatisfied ║ │
│║ by it. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ The opening riff to New Vampyre is rather ║ │
│║ confusing. It comes off being a little bit too ║ │
│║ distorted, and with the out the keyboards or ║ │
│║ vocals you could almost mistake the song for ║ │
│║ that of a nu-metal band. Later on in the track ║ │
│║ is some slow and clean guitar leads along with ║ │
│║ piano, which returns to the trademark sound that ║ │
│║ Vanden Plas has always had. Around the four ║ │
│║ minute mark starts the signs of why the band is ║ │
│║ progressive metal band, keyboard solo mixed with ║ │
│║ many time changes and much more complex guitar ║ │
│║ riffs. For a track that starts off relatively ║ │
│║ bland it ends up becoming one of the better ║ │
│║ tracks on the album about halfway through. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ The King and the Children of lost world starts ║ │
│║ off with lots of progressive intensity. There ║ │
│║ isn't an over use of distortion and focuses more ║ │
│║ on the complexity of the composition and the ║ │
│║ melody of Kuntz's vocals. This is easily one of ║ │
│║ the most upbeat tracks on the album and probably ║ │
│║ has one of the most memorable choruses. An ║ │
│║ addition of extra backing vocals is a very nice ║ │
│║ touch to give the singing a slightly more ║ │
│║ bombastic sound, which has always been something ║ │
│║ I can appreciate. The track also has what I ║ │
│║ would consider the best and most melodic guitar ║ │
│║ solo on the entire album. This would probably be ║ │
│║ my favorite track, definitely has a lot to offer ║ │
│║ in 8 minutes. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ If you would like a synopsis of Misery Affection ║ │
│║ you can pretty much read my complaints about A ║ │
│║ Ghost's Requiem. It takes almost 4 minutes to ║ │
│║ kick in and once it does doesn't have much to ║ │
│║ offer. This is probably the most uninteresting ║ │
│║ track on the album, which was unexpected seeing ║ │
│║ as how the fourth track is a prelude to it. A ║ │
│║ lot of anticipation was built up and it just ║ │
│║ failed to deliver to me personally. I feel that ║ │
│║ its intention is more as a part to develop a ║ │
│║ story line as opposed to being an actual song. ║ │
│║ Its not horrible, I was just expecting more. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ I had previously mentioned that Vanden Plas ║ │
│║ hadn't experiment a whole lot in their past, but ║ │
│║ the guitar riffs halfway through Soul Alliance ║ │
│║ definitely have a more modern edge to them. They ║ │
│║ are pretty distorted and chug-ish, but with the ║ │
│║ piano accompanying it its honestly not too ║ │
│║ bothersome. The keyboards at the end of the ║ │
│║ track are probably one of the better parts of ║ │
│║ the song, but Gunter Werno has always been one ║ │
│║ of my personal favorite keyboardists and have ║ │
│║ never been disappointed by any of his ║ │
│║ compositions. This in my opinion is not one of ║ │
│║ the better tracks, but it still definitely has ║ │
│║ memorable parts and for the most part sticks to ║ │
│║ a sound people would come to expect from the ║ │
│║ band. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ The last track on the album doesn't take long at ║ │
│║ all to get started, which is a relief ║ │
│║ considering many concept albums' last track take ║ │
│║ forever to get started to try to build a more ║ │
│║ epic feel. There is a relatively brief piano ║ │
│║ intro and barely a minute into Inside there is a ║ │
│║ very complex and emotional guitar solo, probably ║ │
│║ one of the best on the album. Around the five ║ │
│║ minute mark there is some violin parts follow by ║ │
│║ yet another guitar solo with twin lead parts, ║ │
│║ which continues on into a rather full and epic ║ │
│║ fade on. This would definitely be the perfect ║ │
│║ track to end the album on. I can almost feel ║ │
│║ like I am on the front line of the battle ║ │
│║ between good and evil by the end of this. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ All in all I would say Chronicles of the ║ │
│║ Immortals: Neverworld (Part 1) is an excellent ║ │
│║ concept album. Of course it has its sleeper ║ │
│║ tracks and a couple used to build onto others ║ │
│║ later on in the album, but there are almost no ║ │
│║ progressive metal concept albums that don't do ║ │
│║ the exact same thing. I honestly got what I ║ │
│║ expected out of this album, and that is to be ║ │
│║ extremely impressed and to continue to not ever ║ │
│║ be disappointed by any of Vanden Plas' work. The ║ │
│║ band has found their little niche in the ║ │
│║ progressive metal world, and they are perfectly ║ │
│║ fine with sticking to it, as am I. I can't wait ║ │
│║ a few more years to see how they are going to ║ │
│║ follow this album up. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ I am going to write off a couple tracks that ║ │
│║ seem to be more or less used to create ║ │
│║ atmosphere and build plot lines when deciding ║ │
│║ what to rate it. There are really no songs that ║ │
│║ are unlistenable, although some are obviously ║ │
│║ better than others. The guitar solos are ║ │
│║ incredible, the keyboards are fantastic, and the ║ │
│║ vocals continue to be some of my favorites from ║ │
│║ the entire genre. I'd give this a rating of 4/5, ║ │
│║ or about an 90% if you break it down into ║ │
│║ percentages. This probably will easily find its ║ │
│║ way into my top ten albums of 2014 list. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
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│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Tracklist ║ │
│╚═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════ │
│ │
│ 01 - Vision 1ne [03:52] │
│ 02 - Vision 2wo - The Black Knight [08:29] │
│ 03 - Vision 3hree - Godmaker [05:24] │
│ 04 - Vision 4our - Misery Affection Prelude [01:39] │
│ 05 - Vision 5ive - A Ghost Requeim [03:56] │
│ 06 - Vision 6ix - New Vampyr [06:16] │
│ 07 - Vision 7even - The King And The Children O [07:53] │
│ 08 - Vision 8ight - Misery Affection [05:08] │
│ 09 - Vision 9ine - Soul Alliance [06:39] │
│ 10 - Vision 10n - Inside [06:42] │
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│ Total Length : [55:58 minn │
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│ ╔═════════════════════╗ │
│ ║ Greetings To: ║ │
│ ╚═════════════════════╝ │
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│ Too all people who contributes to make this │
│ archive of good music in a exceptional conditions │
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