Bloodstock Festival 2023 – Thursday – Visions Of Atlantis. It’s Thursday night, and the Sophie tent is already beginning to fill rapidly. Usually, Thursday, the short opening day, is the quiet one where most Bloodstockers are either still travelling or have arrived and want a beer or two and time to relax after a sometimes arduous journey.
Bloodstock – Visions Of Atlantis
Yet on this Thursday night, there was a clear buzz in the air, and the Sophie tent rapidly filled up as the Bloodstock masses knew they were about to see and hear something quite special.
That something special was quite simply the Austrian Symphonic Metal band Visions Of Atlantis. Sadly not regulars to these shores, this was a unique opportunity to see and hear them live.
They are a band that have been around for twenty years now, and in that time have seen numerous band changes as well as having to manage the sad passing of original singer Nicole Bogner back in 2012.
With eight albums under their belt, they have plenty of material to choose from, yet tonight the set was taken entirely from their two latest outings, 2019’s Wanderers and last year’s Pirates.
Anyone wanting to hear any of the older songs will have been disappointed, but there are enough great tunes within these two albums alone to keep the myriads of fans happy. The latest album, Pirates, in particular, appears to have been a turning point for the band and, unsurprisingly receives the most attention tonight.
With a background drop of a pirate ship and the band dressed in obligatory piratical fashion, they were prepared to deliver. From the opener, Master The Hurricane, they were clearly shipshape and ready to make way.
This is a band who have two vocalists, Michele Guaitoli, who blasts out the male parts and Clémentine Delauney, who stands at the forefront of the band and provides the main female vocals for which the band are best known.
Bringing all her experience to the stage, garnered from her time in Symphonic supergroup Exit Eden, she is the consummate front woman, striding around the stage, hitting high notes left, right and centre, her skirts flying and acting out with Michele the key parts of the songs. This is more than a concert but a complete performance.
Clocks, also from the Pirates album, is an absolute triumph. This is a song with an incredible drive, lush harmonies and a striking chorus. The audience is clearly rapt, singing along to “Tick Tick Tock from the clock is never-ending.”
Visions Of Atlantis have never shied from the admiration of Finnish Metaller’s Nightwish, and this tune alone could easily fit into the Nightwish catalogue.
With only an hour on the clock to play, the band wasted no time ripping through their set, and its fair to say that this was one of those shows which seemed to be over before it even started, such was the enjoyment level generated.
Visions Of Atlantis not only write excellent songs, but they are awash with catchy hooks, great solos and punchy choruses. The massed arms punching the air are a testament to their cause.
With the Pirates album predominantly on show tonight, there were three tunes from the previous album Wanderers which were interspersed throughout with A Life of Our Own, A Journey to Remember, and Heroes Of The Dawn, with its folk-influenced intro, all well-received.
But it was the latest album that fared best and was perhaps better known to many in the audience.
Finishing off with a trilogy from the latest album, Melancholy Angel saw another singback from the audience. The long-awaited Pirates Will Return was greeted like an old friend, and before we knew it, Legion Of The Seas was closing matters.
Though symphonic is a lesser recognised element of the Metal form in the UK, there is clearly a market for this style of music as the likes of Evanescence, Nightwish, and Within Temptation have shown in the last year selling out arenas across the country.
There is absolutely no reason why on this performance we should not be adding Visions Of Atlantis to this list. Let’s hope that it isn’t long until they sail back to these shores.
Bloodstock Festival 2023 is held over the weekend of 10-13 August 2023. MetalTalk’s Paul Hutchings and Adrian Stonley report from Catton Park.
All Photography: John Inglis and Paul Hutchings
All MetalTalk Bloodstock Festival 2023 coverage can be found at MetalTalk.net/tag/bloodstock-2023.
Weekend early bird tickets for Bloodstock 2024 will be available to purchase at the box office on-site for £165. This is the cheapest way to buy a 2024 ticket, minus any online booking or admin fees.
Bloodstock 2022 can be relived at MetalTalk.net/tag/bloodstock-2022.