Strange as it may seem but
Visions took twenty years
in the making! Musicians came and went all leaving behind a little seed
which now blooms as Aether.
This Brazilian foursome mainly tries to create an
atmosphere. This is mainly reserved to the lush, bombastic keyboards of
Alberto Curi. Once the guitar is introduced it almost takes the drums in
it's slipstream. "Whales" almost sounds like a classical fanfare yet the
drums sound very synthetic which is a shame as it's a real drummer here
and not a drum machine. I also don't like the fact the guitar is so
distorted. That distortion seems like a trademark for Vincinius Brazil
because it's also over the vocal track "A New Bright Day." All of the
other material is strictly instrumental except for the poor narration in
"Kings & Knights," a laidback song with Solution references. "November"
sounds like Richard Clayderman on guitar; in other words: pure muzak.
The following six songs are grouped as "Altenburg Suite" a very
atmospheric piece and certainly the highlight on this album. The piece
sports some nice arrangements as in "The Sun On The Tower," a wonderful
violin solo in "The Lake" and some nice church organ and piano in
"Essence Of Freedom."
There are some nice touches on
Vision yet it is totally
unacceptable that a band with a real drummer records its drums as if
they were coming out of the cheapest drum machine. As a follow-up they
certainly should be more daring. MUCH more daring !