Stephen
My search for a better prog/power metal outfit last year was stumbled on this. I'm not sure I have heard their previous albums before, but based on the only information that this is a female-fronted band, I expect something great in the border of SYMPHONY X and WITHIN TEMPTATION, but how unfortunate when all I got is a mediocre symphonic metal band. Sure there are some great moments here. 'New Dawn', is the best tune, a power metal track that has commercial touch and sounds very melodic, I'm in love with this right at the first spin.
'Twist of Fate' and 'Elegy of Existence' are two nice tracks, but apart from that three strong tracks, VISION OF ATLANTIS bored me with lots of poorly written tunes, such as 'Where Daylight Falls' or 'Conquest of Others'. 'Memento' is actually pretty good, gave me a thought of a colossal musical score when I first spin it, but the 6:38 duration isn't really full with goodie and they could have shorten it couple of minutes off.
'Black River Delta' isn't bad and the ballad, 'Reflection', is also far from horrible, but with only 3 great tracks, this album was struggling to fight to the top table of any prog fans end-year list. To me, a 70% top and perhaps will go down to 65% after a while.