The Vision Bleak - Capathia: A Dramatic Poem

The Vision Bleak recently finished their third album "The Wolves Go Hunt Their Prey," but here I'm focusing on their second work; Capathia.

A big change from their first work "The Deathship Has a New Captain" which focused on the fiction of horror films and authors; referencing the likes of John Carpenter. This work focused on something much darker; their own fiction. Following the tale of a businessman delving into his families history in the mountains of Capathia; leading to curses and dark gods (H.P. Lovecraft references galore!).

However th music itself is where we see the real magic; the use of orchestral arrangements seen in the first album is extended to a purely epic scale; complementing the band to create a truly dramatic and incredibly heavy sound.

The musical genius of Ulf T Schwadorf is shown through the truly heavy guitar work, which is truly effective; from the standard sounds common to metal to riffs influenced heavily by Arabic music; using it to create the truly horrifying, exciting, and epic atmosphere that defines the album.

Allen B. Konstanz adds incredibly to the album, primarily through his dark, atmospheric vocals; but these are by no means the vocal limits of the album, Schwadorf appears on many tracks showing his operatic or shrieking skills; and there are uses of beauty and the beast vocals on such tracks as "sister najadie."

Konstanz's drumming abilities are at the first glance simple, often an average 4/4 beat, but the obscure style used alongside this makes the album even more dramatic.

This album shows you don't need to be Scandinavian, and you don't need to have totally intricate skills to create a truly fantastic album. I very much recommend it.