Recommended Aussie Tunes:Psycroptic | The new single "A Fragile Existence" | Listen

Album Reviews : Vanishing Point – Tangled in a Dream (Reissue)

By on March 8, 2017

R-5769660-1402160628-4143.jpegVanishing Point are an institution in Australian heavy music, and are arguably the Australian power metal institution. More than two decades into their career, they are re-issuing their all-time classic Tangled in a Dream album, which originally surfaced 17 years ago. This time, it is a double-CD set, with a b-side featuring a whole bunch of very rare and tasty tidbits that fans will adore.

The album itself is a beauty, taking the listener on a journey across lush and emotional power metal soundscapes, sometimes heavy and pounding, sometimes symphonic and majestic, and sometimes even acoustic and wistful (The Real You). It’s a dynamic and diverse ride, even within the somewhat restricting power metal framework, and soaring above it all is the fabled voice of frontman Silvio Massaro. He truly is an underrated gem in the global metal scene. The crafty and creative guitar riffs, licks, tricks and solos of Chris Porcianko are not hard to handle either.

Tangled in a Dream is a classic.

As for the second CD, it’s a delight. A couple of covers that they very much put their own distinctive VP stamp on, Journey’s Separate Ways, which is soaring and superb, and the classic Pink Floyd track On the Turning Away from 1987’s superb and underrated A Momentary Lapse of Reason album, which they transform into a, up-tempo, celtic-sounding song of their own. A couple of excellent Japanese bonus tracks from two of their subsequent albums, and then five tracks that the band did acoustically at Melbourne’s PBS radio station, which are just sweet as honey. You really do feel like you’re in the studio with them.

Again, Massaro’s voice is evocative, emotional and dead on the money.

This is a brilliant package. If you haven’t checked this band out before, this is an excellent place to start, and if you have, this is a prime opportunity to re-visit and re-appreciate this illustrious slice of Aussie heavy music. Head to the band’s official Facebook page to secure your personalised copy of Tangled In A Dream, today! www.facebook.com/vanishingpointaustralia

Band: Vanishing Point
Album: Tangled in a Dream (reissue)
Year: 2017 (Originally released 2000)
Genre: Power metal
Label: AFM Records
Origin: Australia

About

Rod Whitfield is a Melbourne-based writer and retired musician who has been writing about music since 1995. He has worked for Team Rock, Beat Magazine, themusic.com.au, Heavy Mag, Mixdown, The Metal Forge, Metal Obsession and many others. He has written and published his memoirs of his life and times in the music biz, and also writes books, screenplays, short stories, blogs and more.