Vision Of Choice are a new German duo specialising in epic/concept power metal, a style that isn’t all together new as far as European metal is concerned.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Vision Of Choice
ALBUM: Mistress Of The Gods
LABEL: ZOUNDR (Independent)
YEAR: 2020
SPONSOR: Steve Brockmann
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: 
LINEUP: Lukas Remus – vocals * Steve Brockmann – all instruments, production
TRACK LISTING: 01 New Horizon * 02 Come Tomorrow * 03 Shine * 04 Into The Light * 05 Endlessly * 06 Hold Your Head High * 07 Mistress Of The Gods * 08 Givin’ It Up * 09 Gates Of Evermore * 10 Hold On * 11 Touch The Sky
RATING: 
WEBLINKS: Bandcamp Page
Background
Vision Of Choice are a new German duo specialising in epic/concept power metal, a style that isn’t all together new as far as European metal is concerned. The duo are vocalist Lukas Remus and multi-instrumentalist Steve Brockmann. Remus previously with the band Epilirium while Brockmann was involved with the AIRS – A Rock Opera project.
The VOC bio says that the album is a collection of 11 songs that form a loose conceptual narrative around the adventures of an archaeologist’s son, a throwback to Metal’s adventures in the wastelands with the ancient gods. Many other Euro metal bands have also dabbled in this concept field including Gaia Epicus and even the mighty Pagan’s Mind among others.
The Songs
VOC’s songs surely gallop across the aforementioned wasteland, with Iron Maiden, Helloween, Omen, Malice and Chastain all being used as reference points.
With a windswept synth intro, ‘New Horizons’ leads off like a galloping horde of stallions in full flight, everything as menacing as you can imagine. The thudding bass lines are prominent (Manowar like), so too the growling vocals from Lukas, but it’s the guitar overkill from Brockmann that leads the way.
‘Come Tomorrow’ maintains the beefy macho styled metal on display here, followed soon after by the Euro metal oriented ‘Shine’, though this one sounds lighter than the two that went before. ‘Into The Light’ seems to trip over itself musically, and I don’t really recall hearing a noticeable chorus.
‘Endlessly’ is preceded by some orchestral backing all the way from outer space which sets the scene, galloping off across the wasteland in an Helloween approved fit of speed. Grinding guitar riffs are the deal on ‘Hold Your Head High’, growling vocals, anthemic output, heavy as horses, you get the picture.
The title-track ‘Mistress Of The Gods’ is played at lightning’s breath, bringing back reminders of all those who went before in the speed metal stakes of the late 80’s. For something different, ‘Givin’ It Up’ sounds positively commercial for a metal band. Sure the metal underbelly is still there for Vision Of Choice, but the chorus and solo section keep it fairly clean and uncluttered.
The longest track ‘Touch The Sky’ at a touch under 8 minutes assumes the role of the album’s ‘epic moment’. It’s a go-for-broke track, that picks the eyes out of Iron Maiden and Helloween. If you can last the entire duration under a set of headphones, then you have more intestinal fortitude than I have.
In Summary
It’s all reasonably heavy stuff from Vision Of Choice though the wheel is not being reinvented, as you can imagine in a genre that is decades old now. As mentioned, the bass work is quite prominent on this album, and stands equal to the guitar work provided by Steve Brockmann. The album has a release date of February 14th, look for it at your nearest CD retailer, or on the streaming platform of your choice.
Video
New Horizon
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