{"id":41508,"date":"2014-06-15T08:25:06","date_gmt":"2014-06-15T13:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=41508"},"modified":"2014-06-15T08:25:06","modified_gmt":"2014-06-15T13:25:06","slug":"vanishing-point-distant-is-the-sun-cd-review-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/vanishing-point-distant-is-the-sun-cd-review-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Vanishing Point | Distant Is the Sun<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist\/News Editor —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"VanishingIt\u2019s been seven long years, but Australian progressive metal band Vanishing Point is finally back with a new studio album, their fifth overall, titled Distant Is the Sun<\/em>. It\u2019s not the first time fans have had to wait several years for a new Vanishing Point album, but it\u2019s definitely the longest break between albums. Here\u2019s the thing that keeps fans holding on though \u2013 it\u2019s always worth the wait.<\/p>\n

The years since their previous album (2007\u2019s excellent The Fourth Season<\/em>) have seen some changes in the Vanishing Point camp, most notably the addition of Simon Best on drums and James Maier on guitars and the band\u2019s signing with the AFM label. What hasn\u2019t changed is the chemistry between guitarist Chris Porcianko and vocalist Silvio Massaro, and their ability to write progressive metal songs that perfectly balance technicality with melodic accessibility.<\/p>\n

As soon as you clear the opening introductory track, \u201cKing of Empty Promises\u201d lets you know right away that Vanishing Point hasn\u2019t lost a step in their years away. They\u2019ve always been one of the best bands in the progressive metal scene (right up there with Vanden Plas and Evergrey) when it comes to making this kind of technical music so catchy and easy to get into. Part of that is Porcianko\u2019s melodic guitar work and part is Massaro\u2019s soaring vocals, both of which are at the forefront of this album. Distant Is the Sun fits right in with the rest of the Vanishing Point catalog, though there are some differences that you notice after a couple of spins. The arrangements are a bit more complex and the musicianship is a bit more technical this time around. Not so much that it overwhelms the melodic aspect of the songs, but enough that you can see how the band has grown as musicians and songwriters.<\/p>\n

While Distant Is the Sun<\/em> maintains a high quality level throughout, it does have a few songs that are worth highlighting individually, like \u201cWhen Truth Lies\u201d (the first video released for the album), \u201cCircle of Fire\u201d (which features a guest appearance by Sonata Arctica frontman Tony Kakko) and the stirring and emotional \u201cLet the River Run.\u201d Still, the album works best when experienced as a whole, where you can really appreciate the atmosphere that runs throughout the songs.<\/p>\n

While long time Vanishing Point fans are going to be the ones rejoicing the loudest over the band\u2019s return, Distant Is the Sun<\/em> is an album that should please a wide array of fans. It\u2019s obviously going to satisfy fans of high quality progressive metal, but it\u2019s accessible enough that fans of power metal and melodic rock and metal should find plenty to love. With any luck Distant Is the Sun will be the album that finally introduces Vanishing Point to the much wider audience they deserve.<\/p>\n

Genre: Progressive Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nSilvio Massaro (v)
\nChris Porcianko (g)
\nJames Maier (g)
\nSimon Best (b)
\nChristian Nativo (d)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tBeyond Redemption (Intro)
\n2.\tKing of Empty Promises
\n3.\tDistant Is the Sun
\n4.\tWhen Truth Lies
\n5.\tCircle of Fire
\n6.\tLet the River Run
\n7.\tDenied Deliverance
\n8.\tStory of Misery
\n9.\tEra Zero
\n10.\tPillars of Sand
\n11.\tAs December Fades
\n12.\tHandful of Hope
\n13.\tWalls of Silence
\n14.\tApril<\/p>\n

Label: AFM Records<\/p>\n

Website: www.vanishing-point.com\/au<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Senior Columnist\/News Editor — It\u2019s been seven long years, but Australian progressive metal band Vanishing Point is finally back with a new studio album, their fifth overall, titled Distant Is the […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":41510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[8645,2317,8802,1098,8801],"class_list":{"0":"post-41508","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-afm-records","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-distant-is-the-sun","11":"tag-progressive-metal","12":"tag-vanishing-point"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}