"Last Shut of Your Eyes" by Visions of Atlantis from Cast Away

"I will ever be the one to blame—last shut of your eyes…"

Accepting blame for a mistake? What a welcome change! Oh, sure, songs often say "Aw, I'm sorry I let you go! Take me back! Wah!" Rather than a mere complaint, "Last Shut of Your Eyes" rather acts as a bit of a lament of a bad choice and what happened because of it. The male singer-narrator accepts that "now it is too late," and she won't come back.

Granted, it might be a bit hard for her to come back since she seems to be, well, dead. If you want to be really literal, the lyrics seem to imply she died crossing a street when leaving him, but I think it's supposed to be figurative.

That's one of the reasons I like symphonic metal. Better stories in the songs. Visions of Atlantis, with its power/operatic metal hybrid, is a bit different, too. Nicole Bogner sings with lovely operatic vocals, and I think Mario Plank is a (not-so-great) tenor. It's an interesting mix, but it works well for their slightly-cliché quasi-romantic playoff in their songs. ("Without you life is grey and even sun won't light my day"?)

"Last Shut of Your Eyes" opens with a bit of piano and soft electric guitar, later introducing a more overt guitar and drums, a little like a harder and faster-paced version of Eva. The musical shifts all flow together well, without sounding like someone hashed a few songs together.

Fine, the opening piano reminds me of some song that I think is within temptation, and Mario's singing at the beginning reminds me a bit of Keith Green, I think. It's still a lovely song.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 8/10

"Seven Seas" by Visions of Atlantis from Trinity

"I try to reach you through this fog of ancient fear, and I'll return to you one day, again, my dear…" opens operatic singer Melissa Ferlaak to a piano, and the slow rock begins.

Mario Plank sings a bit roughly, but it's an interesting contrast to Melissa. The Australian band Visions of Atlantis fits conventions of its musical genre(s) in the fantasy-themed songs. The power-metal influence doesn't appear much in this ballad-like song.

"Seven Seas" may be slower than the other Visions of Atlantis songs, but it's still skilled. The music expertly flows together; it consciously ebbs and flows, though aspects seem a tad predictable. That might just be me, though, after listening to the song enough times to review it.

Melissa Ferlaak sings extremely well, and Mario Plank does pretty well, but he could've done better. Also, the lyrics seem kinda like a not-so-great poem. They have their moments, but overall, I think they could've used work.

Essentially, the song's talking about leaving this world behind and passing onwards, but it's not necessarily in a Christian way. (But it can be interpreted in a Christian light, if you consider "Dark waters now await my branded soul".) The music does balance it out somewhat, though.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 7/10

"At the Back of Beyond" by Visions of Atlantis from Trinity

"I am your guide out of the dark (at the back of beyond)" "I hear your cries although they are gone (although they are gone)."

The Austrian band Visions of Atlantis shows its flair for reminding listeners of Nightwish as "At the Back of Beyond" opens with its gothic-toned symphonic power metal. I'd try to name some of the instruments used, but I can only tell that some seem to be strings (maybe on keyboard?). At any rate, Visions of Atlantis offers symphonic metal music that is skilled and catchy throughout.

Okay, so I'm not the biggest fan of Mario Plank's rough style of singing in this song (and evidently throughout the Trinity album), but it's much-praised by fans of the vocal style. I personally prefer the operatic voice of the new American singer Melissa Ferlaak. Nonetheless, both suit 'At the Back of Beyond" and meld well into the song.

"Your rigid eyes stare into gloom; I'm pouring out my grief to you. Should I escape?" opens the song. It's a darker theme than you may want younger children to hear, but it speaks of a hope of escape from the trap. Okay, so it seems to be talking about a corpse with the "rigid eyes" and "I am by your side, but you are still alone". It's fantasy, not crass or anything.

And speaking of that, the language in "At the Back of Beyond is fully clean. Not even innuendo or references to lust appear in the song.

Overall, I think it's one of the top examples of symphonic power metal.

Visions of Atlantis currently offers most of the song as a free download from their site.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 9/10

"Lost" by Visions of Atlantis from Cast Away

"I remember this moment! …Years ago there was only you and me!"

From that striking opening by the operatic voice of Nicole Bogner, male vocalist Mario Plank sings the first half of each verse and the chorus. "Lost in endless night, take me there where I'll see you again. Reach up for the light, when will break my pain?" (In other words: when will I be free of this pain of missing you?)

He, as narrator for much of the song, misses the woman narrated by Nicole Bogner (who, ironically, left the band the year following Cast Away's 2004 release). The woman missed in the song, though, has died, and he's fumbling for a way to "be free" of his pain. She asked him with her last words, "please don't cry for me," but he can't seem to grant that wish.

Depite that kinda dark theme, the rapid-beat (albeit gothic-toned) music will still be cheering for some listeners. People aren't kidding when they call Visions of Atlantis power metal—or when they call it Nightwish's little sibling for its symphonic and operatic metal components.

Like Nightwish, Visions of Atlantis has symphonic and operatic metal elements, too. Nicole Bogner has a lovely operatic voice (that I personally prefer over the voice of Nightwish's old singer—Nicole handles lower parts a lot better). Unlike Nightwish, the male vocalist, Mario Plank, sings most of the song.

The music is well-melded and strikingly attractive, and it flows from its rapid beat to slower beat breathers in the song. Instruments include electric guitar, keyboard, drums, and other things that may be other layers of keyboard. I suspect I hear violin in there on some parts, but I'm not sure. At any rate, it's quite nice when a band can make drums work in a soft part of a song.

My nagging complaints involve issues that I know many people will ignore. Issue one, poor Nicole has her voice almost drowned out, it melds into the music so much. Issue two, the lyrics have stockish cliché points, most noteably "all across the raging sea". Issue three, they have to be Austrian and alien to my native U.S.

Overall, "Lost" is a worthy contender against Nightwish's commonly praised skill.

Visions of Atlantis currently offers most of the song as a free download from their site.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 9/10