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Review: Visions of Atlantis/Seraina Telli, Fleece
Back in the spring of 2020, we were looking forward to Korpiklaani playing the Thekla with Swiss all-female metallers Burning Witches. Covid put paid to that tour, but now here’s former Burning Witches vocalist Seraina Telli with her own well-drilled three-piece band.
She sure can sing, and much of her solo material has a distinct Halestorm girl power vibe, notably I’m Not Sorry, Song for the Girls and Modern Warrior, while Take Care, with its exhortation to “get your fucking shit together”, speaks to the modern obsession with wellbeing and mental ‘elf. In a nod to her past, she also incorporates some proper old-school, foot-on-the-monitor heavy metal along the way.
is needed now More than ever
Seraina certainly cuts a distinctive figure with her two-tone blue/green hair and colour coordinated guitars. As she explains during the intro to Addicted to Color, this is her alternative to drugs and alcohol. Hey – whatever works.
The mainstream media hasn’t bothered to notice the genre, but if you want to see today’s leading symphonic metal bands, such as Nightwish and Within Temptation, you’re in for an expensive trip to the nation’s biggest arenas. Epica are well on their way to joining them. Austria’s Visions of Atlantis are comparative minnows and this is the second date on their very first UK tour, promoting new album Pirates. Probably by accident rather than design, they’re playing in port cities with notable pirate histories (last night they were in Southampton) in the run-up to this weekend’s Bloodstock festival. Naturally, Blackbeard gets namechecked and receives one of the biggest cheers of the night.
There’s a smattering of pirate hats and at least one plastic sword in the audience – many of which have presumably been stuck in the back of a cupboard since the last Alestorm tour, since there’s an obvious crossover with pirate metal here. But the real surprise about the impressively costumed Visions of Atlantis is just how much fun they are. Squeezing a big theatrical arena show into the Fleece was always going to be a challenge, which is presumably why they left the orchestra at home and have to rely heavily on backing tapes. But there’s no shortage of timber-shivering high jinks instigated by vocalists Clémentine Delauney and Michele Guaitoli. When a pirate hat is thrown into the crowd, only a metal audience could be relied upon to return it politely to the stage. That said, this is a Bristol metal audience, which means there’s no shortage of hecklers. The show’s shtick is that we’ve all being recruited to Visions of Atlantis’s pirate crew. “Are you ready to join us?” asks Clémentine. “What’s the pension like?” demands a bloke down the front. And when she tells us that A Life of Our Own celebrates our freedom to “be who we are” everybody replies “Arrrrrr!” in their best pirate.
Musically, VoA deviate little from the standard symphonic metal template, but they do have some excellent melodic songs, notably the singalong Clocks and Melancholy Angel, neither of which would be out of place in a hit musical. Most of Pirates gets an airing, in keeping with the show’s theme, though one can’t help feeling sorry for the male members of the band who swelter beneath their heavy costumes during this unexpected return of summer heat. At least Clémentine has a floor-length split dress, which permits some air circulation.
Connoisseurs of the genre will know that when these bands recruit classically trained singers, they occasionally look a tad nervous and intimidated in front of a ravening metal audience. There’s none of that with French soprano Clémentine, who dives right in to all the larking about and headbangs like a trooper (presuming that troopers headbang). Distinctively, there are no harsh vocals in the mix, as Michele Guaitoli is an equally powerful singer who milks his duets of every last drop of drama.
We’re all exhorted to drop to the floor for some synchronised rowing during first encore Pirates Will Return – a gambit stolen from Amon Amarth – and the show concludes with a stirring Legion of the Seas, after which these pirates promise that they too will return. Great stuff, but they’re gonna need a bigger ship to perform in.
Read more: Metal & Prog Picks: August 2023
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