My opinion was that no one in the world did ABBA covers quite like At Vance. Even if their "original" material borrowed from every other power metal band in and outside of Germany, the ABBA covers were worth the price of admission alone. Most of this was due to the delivery of their singer, Oliver
Hartmann, whom seemed to have some penchant for being able to handle
AOR type stuff, and this glimmering of "what could be", made one yearn to hear him take the music more into the melodic direction. Of course over the span of four albums with At Vance, that remained out of the question. That band certainly wasn't going to wussify themselves when they have Oliver singing about dragons and other medieval stuff. It was kind of a sad day when he left the band, since it was figured he would fade into the bowels of obscurity and we'd likely not hear from him again, atleast not as prominently as before. Not to mention the absence of good ABBA covers in our future.
But wait! Here he is again, back in the spotlight and not as just a bit player (he's appeared on
Avantasia and Genius: the Rock Opera as a supporting character) and with a very unexpected but delightful release. "Out in the Cold" is an amazing slice of
AOR that has come from literally nowhere. The production is some of the best you will hear in the genre, handled by the more than capable Sascha Path (and sidekick Miro appears here too) who has dealt us some real beauties in terms of slickness and overall sound, including Rhapsody,
Edguy and
Kamelot on the resume. Those are some bands that are considered to be powerhouse, so you know that this
AOR album is going to be absolutely sparkling where the sound is concerned. Every note of discontent, each guitar squeal of joy, every nuance and textures of the vocals come across crystal clean and with a purity that the genre is not often treated to.
"Alive Again" is like mid career
Whitesnake ("Slide It In" era stuff) crossed up with something more modern. An explosive slab of melodic rock that also possesses the energy of a piece hot off of
Giant's "Time to Burn". Oliver sounds very Coverdale-ish in the throaty croon of
"no valley too low" section of the bridge, that ushers in the massive chorus without skipping a beat.
The title track is another smokin' bit, this time with a moodier, more thoughtful pacing that gives the song ample time to breathe and the massive chorus let's the atmosphere sink even deeper. Then there's the Miro/Paeth influence there with the dramatic string section kicking in to deliver an even more powerful punch for a moment. Ah but not just for that one brief punctuation, they return in full emotive force for the ending that just rams all the hurt right down your throat like a dagger to the soul.
"Why don't you weep when I hurt you?" Oh why? I nearly wept when I first heard this track. It just oozes with pain and bleeds from the wounds inflicted.
"Called you brazen, called you whore right to your face. Watched you silently, publicly disgraced." Holy shit, this makes the listener just wince from the bare, broken, and
"Brazen" display of emotion.
Hartmann's quick hit of that high register for the word "weep" is reminiscent of The Darkness. This song hasn't recieved alot of attention since it's a cover tune (original was by Skunk Anansie) but Oliver's take makes the song all his own. Is he great at covers or what? If anyone should cut a covers album it's this guy. First ABBA and now Skunk... what next I must ask? What next!
Oh my, does it let up?
"The Same Again" is another onslaught of outcries from the soul. Darker in atmosphere, almost along the lines of Masterplan's moody downplayed material, and a dash of modern that brings to mind TNT's "Transistor" in the more melodic sides of that album. The way the chorus is tackled is brilliant, the words unleashed in a quick ball of fury and then Oliver lets up for the admitted realization to let each word sink in carefully after the initial vocal attack. There's all sorts of tiny touches embedded here that keeps this from blending into the rest, including a brief distortion on the vocal that's used for effect and not to irritate.
"I Will Carry On" is a safely played ballad that is pleasant and well composed but leaves you a little empty inside, especially after the killer quality of the first four songs, which just made this awesome, power packed ride.
"What If I" is also missing an element or two that keeps it from being fantastic. A nicely done piece though, that surgers with this euphoric, high flying feel, wrapped in an uptempo pacing.
"How Long" has this crazy, off kilter beat that is just infectious as hell and conquers the song easily. It let's you fall into this hypnotic rhythm, atleast until the nu-rock moment kicks in and then the huge slamming
AOR chorus sweeps you off your feet. The only match for this that I can think of is Queensryche's strange and wonderful stalker song, "Gonna Get Close To You". If you've ever heard the weird rhythm section and atmosphere, you can imagine what the backbone for this sounds like. The rest of the song is this surging uptempo concoction that leaves your
Giant senses tingling.
Soft, lapping, and playing it safe,
"The Journey" is a nice little ballad in the Bad English pedigree. Slickly done, right down to the little echoing flourish on certain words to add a little glitter to the typical
AOR soft stuff workout. The guitars blaze like shining beacons in the night here, as the song takes you on its slow paced winding journey down sentimental avenue. Not spectacular but still an easy song to get to know.
"Who Do You Think That You Are" is
Silver meets current Harem Scarem, with a bit of Conception's "Flow" tossed into the mix for good measure. It's for those warped progressive touches you know?
"No one's ever right cos you can't be wrong...you say you're a friend but you're my biggest enemy." Hmm more nice lyrics here that go right for the jugular, personal and not holding back even an ounce of angst and anger. The chorus whips you hardcore with some crunchy guitars lurking back there and pounces out of the song like a wildcat pinning its prey under heavy paws. The claws are out and cut like a knife, right through the soul.
"Listen to Your Heart" has that upbeat, giddy melodic thing going on again, much like
"What If" but a bit toned down from that sugar high. There's enough of a tougher, grounded feel here to keep it from spinning out into sugary
AOR candy land. There's good, solid, positive advice here in the lyrics, but myself? I prefer it when this guy is bleeding from some emotional scar or another and pouring all that anguish into the song. It's the sadist in me I suppose. Kinda Pretty Maids-ish, mid 90s era, before they got "tougher" and decided to suck a little.
"Running through my hands like a castle made of sand." Such a sucker for lyrics like these. Anyway, this uptempo ballad is probably the best one that
Hartmann gives us, since we aren't basking in the rays of love but yet are brooding over the questioning of where the love has gone. Love fades, love dies, and this makes you contemplate why. If it was so strong in the first place, what killed it off? Where was that point of no return?
"Can You Tell Me Where Love Has Gone" may have a cliched title and equally cliched lyrical content, but it's a safe bet that it will hit home with someone, especially when given such a raw and passionate musical form.
Building...building...
"Into the Light" just keeps increasing in intensity, so gradually you may not notice at first. Once that orchestration and mammoth backing vocals kick in though, you should be sold on the whole song by then. Just a big, epic track in general. The drums are kinda "off" in some spots, especially the beginning where they seem alien and out of place, yet they become a part of the bigger picture before the song closes. I'm not really over the moon about this one. It's a pretty big ballad, with plenty going on but it drags too much towards the front and it seems like the payoff could have been bigger considering the length of the track. The verses are too mundane, there's not enough happening until the end, of course.
At Vance fans will likely have to warm up to this a bit before really diving into those
AOR waters since it's a few worlds away from anything they are used to hearing Oliver do in the past. This is as far from power metal as you could stray (well I suppose Westcoast or hip hop or something would be really, but you get the drift). But for
AOR fans, this is one you might regret missing, if you cruise your titles based on band names alone. A few songs are not quite up to the power and panache of the opening four, but there's enough here to keep one attached to their CD player for valuable replays. Especially such strong cuts as
"Brazen" and
"Who Do You Think You Are". I suppose the album could be cut down a couple of songs since
"What If" and
"Listen to Your Heart" are a little redundant in the manner of what they bring to the table here, and there are probably one too many ballads, but it's not as if these tracks are 'bad' or anything, it just might be a little too excessive. I'd also like to see more experimentation (
"The Same Again") and less safety net songs (
"Into the Light"). A more prominent focus on electric guitars and keyboards would also be welcome. A few tunes seem to be a little lean in the instrumentation department, and those female backing vocals are a little unsettling. They seem to blare out at the most inopportune times, sticking out like a sore thumb. Painted nail and all. And if that's not a chick...then, well...it sure sounds like one.
"Out in the Cold" is not perfect, but it's also not too soft either. It has just the right amount of angst and moodiness, but when sugar and spice is called for, Oliver never takes it to the too syrupy level, and just seems to find this perfect balance to represent all the varying moods and faces of rock solid
AOR without overdoing or overdosing on any of it. It's a careful display of talent and a very mature recording that has alot of appeal.
Written by
Alanna Sunday, September 4, 2005
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