Vanishing Point is another band that wants to edge its way into the "progressive metal" genre. They will have to make fervent use their elbows, though, because their musical talents won't cut it. There's some potential in the opening track ("Surreal"), "I Will Awake" is OK until the singing starts, and there are moments of hope in "Father (7 Years)". Other than that it's uninspired, with two superfluous ballads to boot ("The Real You" and "Dancing with the Devil").

Silvio Massaro's vocals seem to be able only to use a limited musical vocabulary, and the rhythm changes and ingenious guitar riffs I cannot help but associate with technically capable metal (prog or otherwise) are not there. About every 2 seconds there's a chord change, and that's about as frantic as it gets. The bonus track - a cover of Pink Floyd's "On the Turning Away" - made me think of what some singer had done to 10CC's "[I'm] Not in Love" a few years ago: It took the original and transformed it into something with an own twist: too happy and up-tempo a one.

RK

Written January 2001

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