This is a one man project from James Allen. Atmosphere seems to be the goal of this LP and if that is all I wanted I would have been satisfied. Atmospheric doom is the style overall, but there are plenty of mono-goth segments as well. Before I say more, let me establish that the biggest downfall of this LP was the drum machine. If a band (musician) has to use a machine try to make it sound somewhat real. The song "Mystical Dominion" starts out with some guitar segment that sounds almost identical to "Somewhere in Time" (IRON MAIDEN.) James then breaks into these mono style vox that sound as if Arnold Schwarzenegger was imitating a robot. This was a major let-down considering the guy's death/doom vox are decent. "Open Voyage" is a mixed bag. The vocals start monotonous and the drum machine is very plain (especially the Caribbean/tribal tracks), but he does progress into the better doom vox and adds some very well done Middle Eastern guitar work. The highlight atmospheric ending was a nice touch, mixing keyboards and crashing waves that made me feel like a master Viking warrior. After that track the album all sounds about the same, artsy and mellow doom. I would recommend this LP to fans of happy sounding Goth/doom or TIAMAT fans (though not as good.) This is definitely not for brutality slaves. The guitar work is notable, vocals (doom ones) are "ok", and again the drum machine needs to be incinerated. Even though I wasn't too keen on this CD the guy would be an asset to a full member band.
3/10
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #75Reviewed by Doug Van PeltI knew there was a reason we had Klank on the cover of our "Industrial/Goth" issue last January. It was so we could compare his vocals to this project. Imagine progressive, classic metal goth with Klank's grunting, growling vocals. This stuff is really good! Beautiful guitar tones, ocasional noise samples, bombastic, big, and dramatic drums. Very cool. For a sample, check out his cut on this…Dead Zine 1998Reviewed by FletchImagine a cross between Ashen Mortality, Kohllapse and maybe, umm let's say Wedding Party and you have Visionaire. Unfortunately I am not a fan of Ashen Mortality or Wedding Party so this cd was not particularly appealing to me although the Kohllapse-ish parts were cool to listen to. Generally, fans of gothic doom metal will find a new favorite in Visionaire while someone looking for a little…Similar sounding releases
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