{"id":51090,"date":"2016-02-03T08:54:16","date_gmt":"2016-02-03T13:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=51090"},"modified":"2016-02-03T08:54:16","modified_gmt":"2016-02-03T13:54:16","slug":"vanden-plas-chronicles-of-immortals-netherworld-ii-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2016\/vanden-plas-chronicles-of-immortals-netherworld-ii-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Vanden Plas | Chronicles of Immortals \u2013 Netherworld II<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Sr. Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"VandenLong running German Progressive Metal band Vanden Plas helped wind down 2015 with their eighth full-length release, titled Chronicles of the Immortals: Netherworld II<\/em>. As the title suggests this is the second part of the band’s very ambitious two-album conceptual epic, and follows Netherworld Part I<\/em>, which was released a year earlier.<\/p>\n

Chronicles of the Immortals: Netherworld<\/em> is a massive \u201cRock Opera\u201d style piece that adapts a story by bestselling German fantasy novelist Wolfgang Hohlbein. Fantasy and Progressive Metal have gone together nicely since Rush’s 2112<\/em>, so that’s no problem. And Vanden Plas singer Andy Kuntz is no stranger to rock operas, between his turn in Jesus Christ Superstar<\/em> and his own Abydos project.<\/p>\n

Vanden Plas does a great job adapting the author’s concept to the Progressive Metal format. As with the first installment, the atmosphere on Netherworld II<\/em>, and the flow of the songs conveys a strong sense of imagery and storytelling. Sure, you’ll need to spend some time with the lyrics to really follow the story, but even without them you can tell this is something larger and more ambitious than the normal album.<\/p>\n

Of course the potential downside of releasing such a grand concept album series is that it doesn’t capitalize on what might be Vanden Plas’s greatest asset: their ability to write catchy, accessible Progressive Metal songs. \u201cLike Dream Theater, but more melodic\u201d is a familiar description, and you don’t quite get that on the Netherworld<\/em> albums. You need a few spins to really get into this album, and that’s not something you usually go through with Vanden Plas albums.<\/p>\n

Issues with accessibility aside, Chronicles of Immortals \u2013 Netherworld II<\/em> has everything you’d expect from a Vanden Plas release. The musicianship and production are first rate, and Andy Kuntz’s vocals are incredibly powerful and evocative. And again, the atmosphere the band has crafted here is really memorable. It’s tough to call out individual highlights of any concept album, let alone one that spans multiple albums, but if you’re looking to get a feel for Netherworld II’s overall character, songs like \u201cGodmaker’s Temptation,\u201d \u201cThe Last Fight\u201d and the 13-minute \u201cBlood of Eden\u201d ought to do nicely.<\/p>\n

Chronicles of Immortals \u2013 Netherworld II<\/em> is a more than worthy successor to Part I<\/em>, and wraps up one of the better executed conceptual releases in the Progressive Metal genre. Even if it does take a little longer to get into than, say, Far Off Grace<\/em> or The Seraphic Clockwork<\/em>, this album should not disappoint Vanden Plas fans. And if they weren’t already considered a \u201ctop tier\u201d progressive metal band, these past two albums will have made that distinction quite clear. <\/p>\n

Genre: Progressive Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nTorsten Reichert (b)
\nAndreas Lill (d)
\nStephan Lill (g)
\nGunter Werno (k)
\nAndy Kuntz (v)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tVision 11even \u2013 In My Universe
\n2.\tVision 12elve \u2013 Godmaker’s Temptation
\n3.\tVision 13teen \u2013 Stone Roses Edge
\n4.\tVision 14teen \u2013 Blood of Eden
\n5.\tVision 15teen – Monster
\n6.\tVision 16teen \u2013 Diabolica Comedia
\n7.\tVision 17teen \u2013 Where Have the Children Gone
\n8.\tVision 18teen \u2013 The Last Fight
\n9.\tVision 19teen \u2013 Circle of the Devil<\/p>\n

Label: Frontiers Records<\/p>\n

Website: www.vandenplas.de<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.75\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Sr. Columnist — Long running German Progressive Metal band Vanden Plas helped wind down 2015 with their eighth full-length release, titled Chronicles of the Immortals: Netherworld II. As the title suggests […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":51091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13652],"tags":[2317,12034,5081,1098,8970,12035],"class_list":{"0":"post-51090","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2016","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-chronicles-of-immortals-netherworld-ii","10":"tag-frontier-records","11":"tag-progressive-metal","12":"tag-vanden-plas","13":"tag-wolfgang-hohlbein"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51090","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=51090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}