The Vision Bleak
The Wolves Go Hunt Their Prey

For some time now, the term Gothic metal has referred to a very diverse and heterogeneous spectrum of bands that have little in common except for a fairly traditional metal foundation, upon which each of them attempts (with very contrasting results) to dispense samples of inventiveness and class.

It is therefore quite ironic and mocking to group under the same musical banner bands like Within Temptation (de gustibus but they horrify me) and Before the Dawn (very interesting but quite inconsistent) or Evanescence (forgive me for the ignoble citation) and Katatonia (I hope no one has anything to object to about them). And the list of these improbable oxymorons could be very long.

In conclusion to this reasoning, we can safely say that the Teutonic The Vision Bleak sit with full rights among those who have managed to create a very personal and quite horrifying gothic metal seasoned with death reminiscences, with which they coexist without being too subjugated and without wanting to excessively display them.

Arriving at their third full-length, our musicians decide to vary the style already significantly tested with the previous "The Deathship has a new captain" and especially the more balanced "Carpathia - A dramatic Poem", abandoning the most striking operatic elements (which paid tribute in originality to Lacrimosa), such as the use of violin, piano, and soprano, to further harden their sound. Oh well, this doesn’t change much the typical timbre of the duo composed of Ulf Theodor Schwardorf (guitars, bass, effects) / Allen B. Konstanz (vocals, drums), which is easily recognizable either due to the guitar sound that is quite similar on all three releases, or due to the pursuit of the quirky and catchy chorus, as seen in the magnificent opener "She-Wolf," and for their taste in creating songs with an ancient and putrescent flavor at the same time, as in "The Black Pharaoh Part I The Shining Trapezohedron," without forgetting the orchestrations that give depth to guitar textures that are never too complex, as in "The Eldrich Beguilement" or in the torrid and personal "Evil Is Of Old Date," yet it is certainly an element of surprise.

Thus a certain linearity and simplicity at its core, which sometimes run on a razor's edge called repetitiveness and homogeneity, and a certain love for strong (forcibly??) oriental melodic lines, always at the limit of tackiness without ever actually crossing it, but rather astonishing for the ability to pull out of the cul de sac in which they often find themselves, with very respectable melodic openings, leaving an indication of the true strokes of genius the duo possesses, make up the winning mix of this "The Wolves Go Hunt Their Prey."

The aforementioned death reminiscences are mostly concentrated in the very valid and powerful "The Demon Of The Mire" and in some vocal cameos scattered here and there in the individual songs, without ever being too invasive, also thanks to the desire of the artists to use this resource only as an accent, a distinctive mark, not a constant source of inspiration.

The only compositional remark is the excessive similarity in the riffs and atmospheres of the last song "By Our Brotherhood With Seth" with the production of Moonspell from the "Irreligious" period.

Regarding the lyrical aspect of the album under review, well, we are faced with an interesting concept focused on the Egyptian theogony, so much so as to bring our Transylvanian wolves to the feet of the temple of Seth, god of the underworld and the desert. It is nonetheless true that the originality rate of this proposal is almost equal to the result of multiplying any real number by zero, but we must also admit that certainly personality and lyrical art are not lacking in our Germans.

From a purely technical point of view, there is nothing to object; all sounds are perfectly audible, the balance between the orchestral components, effects, and metal potency is absolutely remarkable, and the choice of clean but dark and theatrical vocals certainly helps in achieving a final result that is truly intense, precise, and passionate.

A recommended listen.