Vision Divine
The Perfect Machine

PREAMBLE: The album in question is a concept album. Consequently, it is necessary to lay out a report on the story that forms its basis. That's why I will start things this way.

THE CONCEPT: Year 2043, an ingenious biologist, Arnaldo Mattei, surprised the World Medicine Congress with a discovery that would change things forever. After spending a lifetime searching for the key to decipher the genetic code of human DNA, Arnaldo deciphered the aforementioned code and, together with his entourage, managed to understand the reason why human cells, at a certain point, stop reproducing and age until they die… The consequences are obvious; Mattei could now directly intervene on the genes to cure diseases, force the cells to continue regenerating so that they could heal, guaranteeing the most coveted gift to mankind: immortality… Thus, creating, in short, the Perfect Machine. THE ALBUM: I don't think it's necessary to scrutinize every single track. This is because I would end up writing an even more lengthy review than my usual reviews. However, there's also a necessary consideration. That is, in power (and especially in progressive-power) there is only "rubbish" in industrial quantities. And it's true, unfortunately. That's why, when you listen to albums like this, you can't help but do so with your head held high and feel proud. Proud because it is, finally, an album with all the right attributes in the right place. Proud, again, because it is a 100% Italian album. And if we Italians, besides pizza and spaghetti, are capable of creating such masterful works, then we should consider ourselves truly fortunate and walk with our heads held high, without being ashamed of anyone (hey! Not for nothing did we bring home the World Cup, not just any random person…).

Joking aside, the first thing that stands out is the division of the work into 9 tracks, instead of a single track as happened with the previous (beautiful) "Stream of Consciousness (2004)" which showed us, in addition to a fully prepared statement and a stylistically and musically mature Olaf, an excellent "new entry" Michele Luppi who had replaced the forever Rhapsody-ian Fabio Lione. Michele showed great technical and vocal skills, such as to enthusiastically excite critics and the public. And here, he surpasses himself together with the entire band. Returning to the album. The work, in its tracks, is less linear than the previous work, more progressive from this point of view. But not less assimilable because of this. Olaf focuses on constructing songs whose sole purpose is to manage to convey what he, indeed, interiorly feels, his suffering, his dilemma, his turmoil. And, damn, he succeeds.

The opener is a killer track, truly well executed and it illustrates the story from the beginning. Our doctor, having discovered the miraculous medicine, decides to test it on his sick son. And he succeeds. The cure is exposed to the whole world and Mattei receives all the honors and accolades that such a genius deserves.
We move on to the next "The Ancestors' Blood" in which considerations regarding whether or not to be immortal are analyzed. It is obvious that the response is predictable: after a long internal torment, the shortcut is always preferable to the long and torturous path. Yes, let's become immortal. But this, for the human race, will be costly. The price will be the closure of the heavens ("God is Dead") by God and the refusal of the human race, now fully aware of having reached its paradise (immortality on Earth) and its dream. Taking the place of God, is it good? We will only discover it during the listening.
Another 4 thousand years pass on Earth and, the world now, has everything it desires. Eternal life. Nice, isn't it? It seems not. Yet God had warned us, poor souls of our own making. What goals to pursue if, now, we have no more limits? Why chase love if we can now love as we like, as much as we like, and, above all, whenever we like? Why regret, at this point, lost love (or loves) if we can immediately console ourselves with a new one? Here is the limit of eternal life. Eternal life has the limit in its very essence, as such.
It limits man in his immensity and interminability, as absurd as this may seem. Yet, so absurd, in the end, it is not. And it is in the moving "Here in 6048" that emerges, besides Mattei and his son’s internal turmoil, that of Olaf who, in a touching ballad (tears really struggle to be held back), it is discovered that 6048 is an empty world, even if full of immortals. Is this the true world, our paradise, the Promised Land? Apparently, no. And so it is that, after 4 thousand years, God manifested himself again to men ("I told you so, I....") and explained the fatal human error of the constant search for eternal youth: impossible to find it except with emotions.
And we are at the end ("Now that You've Gone"): the human race has fully understood its mistake. Being a slave to itself and its crazy dreams. And finally, we return to the origins, with the conception of a child, a new innocent soul in this world full yet existentially empty. We are at the dawn of a new era…

Musically the album is impeccable. It alternates typically power moments (the initial title track) with more progressive moments ("Here in 6048") reminiscent of Dream Theater-like memories. Analyzing the individual tracks under a microscope is pointless because they are always above average and capable of taking the listener along their journey in the concept. The pinnacle is, however, reached in the final triptych and, in particular, in "The River" and "Now That You've Gone" where our good Michele Luppi outdoes himself, delivering a vocal performance beyond any reasonable human ability, managing to be incredibly versatile, fully aware of his vocal qualities, perfectly modulating his vocal cords. What else? Do I need to tell you that Olaf is a guitarist who needs neither introductions nor any comments? That he manages to convey a very special feeling, thanks to his superhuman (and inhuman) compositions, now tending to power tout-court, now to progressive, now to thrash outbursts (really? Yes, really!).

Well, if you still have doubts, my rule applies: the cover. Splendid. The cover has always been a guarantee to me ("Ride The Lightning" teaches us). Just as marvelous was that of the previous concept album of the Divine Vision.

Buy it.