Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth waiting for, July 13, 2006
I discovered Vanishing Point in 2000 with their excellent second album Tangled in Dream, and was immediately hooked on the Australian band's highly melodic brand of progressive metal. They have this Vanden Plas meets Nightingale sound with some of the best midrange vocals you could ever hope to hear. I tracked down their debut - In Thought - shortly afterwards, and found it to be enjoyable as well. At that point I started to wait for the band's next release. Little did I know that it would take five freaking years! Needless to say, Embrace the Silence had a lot to live up to.
How did the band do? Really really really well. Embrace the Silence is a big step forward for the band, and when you consider how good Tangled in Dream was, you can see that the bar is set pretty high. This album is an improvement in terms of production, performance, songwriting, and overall maturity. Embrace the Silence is a very melodic progressive metal album that achieves the perfect balance between the two elements. It's not so melodic that it doesn't flat out rock, and it's not so progressive that those elements come at the expense of the actual songs. The songs on Embrace the Silence run from 5-7 minutes each, so you're not going to be put to sleep with 10-minute instrumental passages. And the band definitely gives you your money's worth, with the album clocking in at just under 80 minutes and taking up nearly every available second on the disc.
While I didn't enjoy waiting so long for this album, it was certainly worth the wait. It's an excellent addition to Vanishing Point's catalog, and is sure to appeal to anyone who enjoys progressive and/or power metal.
NOTE: I can only hope that Vanishing Point gets picked up by a "major" label like Inside Out or Nuclear Blast, so their albums can receive the attention they truly deserve. That this band remains relatively unknown while others thrive is just sad.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unique Aussie Metal that's actually good!, June 5, 2006
Wow! The latest release from the Aussie power metallers is a huge step forward, mainly in production. Its clear, full and, most importantly, powerful. With this album, Vanishing Point display an edge that other Oz metal bands - Dungeon and Black Majesty are all i can think of right now - are currently lacking.
Although the music is full on power metal, it is remarkably unique - there really isn't another band that sounds similar (a great relief in this genre!). The singer's voice is lower than most, but still clean; the best comparison i can think of is Blaze Bayley, but with a different tone. The guitar and drum work is up there with the best of them, with less reliance on ultra fast playing and double kick bass. Never fear, its still as technically impressive as hell! Crank it loud and be blown away by its intensity! The Keyboard work also deserves a mention, as it features prominantly on this album.
All the songs are around 5 to 7 minutes, so it has that great epic feel, minus the ususal medievil shenanigins. A little bit of editing wouldn't have gone astray - the album plays for almost 80 minutes. And some songs do occasionally sound a little samey. This is a minor quibble though - Vanishing Point deserve to be on any respecable metalhead's shelf! (and if you don't take my word for it, take Sonata Arctica's, - they did a cover of one of their songs a couple of years back!)
Armed with excellent production and their increasing experience, I can't wait for their next release!
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Tastefully rendered, mellow Progressive Power Metal., April 6, 2007
While there are many great moments throughout this album I was never blown away or left awestruck by anything I heard on this CD. Having said that, the songcraft is incredibly fluid and frequently creative. Calling this CD Power Metal is not entirely correct, either, as it feels more like an amalgamtion of Power Metal with many graceful touches of Melodic Rock. The Progressive elements are mostly flourishes of softly layered keyboards, beautiful piano passages, and supple shifts of tempo that add brilliant texture and nuance to the already solid songwriting. The band interplay is tight, with no single musician overwhelming the others, and a sense of intelligent respect is fully achieved through both the music and the mature lyrical content. The lead singer dwells mostly in the middle ranges though he still shows considerable power and control with many sustained vocalizations. All in all, "Embrace the Silence" is very recommendable. Running time: (79:35)
1. HOLLOW (7:07)
2. MY VIRTUE (5:23)
3. IF ONLY I (5:21)
4. LIVE TO LIVE (5:54)
5. EMBRACED (6:42)
6. SEASON OF SUNDAYS (6:39)
7. ONCE A BELIEVER (7:01)
8. REASON (6:06)
9. BREATHE (6:28)
10. SOMEBODY SAVE ME (4:29)
11. INSIGHT (5:08)
12. A LIFE LESS (7:03)
13. AS I REFLECT (6:08)
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by Vanishing Point 
