Vision Divine - Destination Set to Nowhere Review
by Matt Hensch
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With the auto-pilot turned off and a burning sensation to explore in their hearts, the gentlemen of Italy's Vision Divine deliver a slab of power/progressive metal somewhat in the same circle as Rhapsody of Fire, Secret Sphere, Angra, some others too. I was mainly drawn to this project because it includes vocal work from Fabio Lione of the aforementioned Rhapsody of Fire despite Vision Divine focusing a lot less on hugely explosive dynamics and more on riff-based, chorus-based anthems based on this here record. "Destination Set to Nowhere" is a listenable album; not an incredible or mesmerizing opus, but listenable, I guess. It's kind of a standard representation of power/progressive metal that at times excels at capturing a futuristic, spacey vibe. It's probably what they were aiming for as most of the record deals with space travel, epic journeys, finding a new planet to live on, and other space mumbo jumbo.Vision Divine and "Destination Set to Nowhere" are both strictly in tune with the power/progressive metal postulate; you'll know exactly what'll happen if you have any familiarity with it at all. I really can't think of much else to say, honestly. It's just progressive/power metal doing what progressive/power metal does. The riffs are hooky and fun, and the keyboards are really involved with the overall dynamic, which is definitely cool. However, it feels like a very standard release that runs through the motions. I mean, there are legitimate songs like "The Dream Maker," utilizing driving riffs and powerhouse choruses. That's only a sizeable sample of the album, however. I think Fabio sounds better here than he does in some of his Rhapsody of Fire material. This, of course, is probably due to the remarkable differences between his projects, and there's no doubt his voice is much more of a factor here than his main band. At times this feels more like an episode of Lost In Space that indeed focuses on being lost in space. Some of the songs feel boring and directionless from beating the universal—pun or not, I'm leaving that up to you—algorithm into stardust; it's reasonably an exhaustion of a successful foundation throughout its weaker parts. "The House of the Angels" has acceptable riffs, but it overall seems loosely constructed and flaccid; almost entirely forgettable overall. "Here We Die" starts off with a Slayer-esque riff and generally sounds like it's going to punch your face into a black hole, but they end up mucking it up with some of the rehashed ideas that, for some reason, wiggled into the song. Oh well. The closing title track does little for me as well, and it's safe to assume "Destination Set to Nowhere" loses its touch as it progresses. Well, this one doesn't do too much for me barring a handful of stars. Vision Divine takes off, Vision Divine lands, Vision Divine leaves once more—a little rendezvous from the norm would've been nice. The only true reroute from the consistent mediocrity is Fabio Lione and his awesome vocals, but overall "Destination Set to Nowhere" says a lot of words and phrases that end up holding little meaning. Four or five songs are memorable and fun; the rest of the pie is pretty much stale. I'm not sure how this holds up to Vision Divine's other material, but I'm fairly sure this has been my first and last ride with Vision Divine.
Vision Divine - Destination Set to Nowhere Rating:5.5
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