Back to the recording streets for one of the most decent bands in progressive music for decades. Vanden Plas may have emerged around the same time Dream Theater made their big bang, but they soon acquired a purely personal sound that set them apart from the masses.
4 years have passed since the release of the very good “The Ghost Xperiment – Illumination”, a live show two years ago has intervened, and perhaps the first and most important point of reference is the change of membership after 33 consecutive years please! Gunter Werno is no longer a member of the band. My reflection on this departure became more pronounced when I learned that his replacement was none other than the well-liked yes, but overused no less, Alessandro Del Vecchio. The fact that the figure was part of the Frontiers roster didn’t sit well with me. Fortunately, any hesitation was erased from the first listen.
“Empyrean” finds the band about where “Illumination” left them. Their trademark sound doesn’t seem to show any change with Alessandro’s entrance. The melodic progressive metal that I like so much is here once again. It’s no coincidence that apart from “My Icarian Flight” which is only 6 minutes all the other compositions are quite long. The tracks breathe since the band prefers to invest in developing their ideas rather than getting bogged down in pointless acrobatics.
There is no need for Vanden Plas to make any show of strength. After all, when you open your album with a composition like the title track! For years the band has opted for a soundtrack aesthetic mentality in their work and we find the same here. The harder parts are seamlessly mixed with the more melodic and darker ones. Listen to “They Call Me God” and you will remember me! Even the two longest compositions of the album didn’t bore me at all. Now add Andy Kuntz’s distinctive voice to that equation and you have a fantastic result.
I expected nothing less from Vanden Plas and of course not disappointingly. “The Empyrean” is another jewel album in the collection of the Germans and of course a work that should not be missed by any fan of progressive music!
