Visionatica
Enigma Fire

Visionatica returns, their debut album Force of Luna showed that they were a force to be reckoned with, so what about the second album? Enigma Fire is it called and it has a lovely artwork, nine tracks, about forty minutes of playing time, they are on a new label with Frontiers that is probably going to help them receive more attention. The band also has a new bassist and they are three years older, but are they three years wiser and three years more creative?

I am not sure about the wiser part as I don’t know the members but more creative would be stretching it, as originality is not quite the thing for this band it seems. It would be unfair to claim that this new album is a repeat of the previous but it wouldn’t be a massive stretching of the truth either. The female fronted symphonic metal will feel very familiar to the one who heard the debut album three years ago; the band sound more sure of themselves and the production is slightly better. Within Temptation, Nightwish, Xandria and bands like those are good comparisons if you missed the debut album – this is not really ground breaking and I wouldn’t say that Tamara is the best vocalist ever, nor is it the best produced album I have heard in the melodic or symphonic metal bracket.

But it is great with good songs, strong melodies and very distinct choruses and it is often catchy as hell. Like the previous album they often loose a bit of tempo in the verses, which is a bit negative but not a massively big deal. The variation is pretty good and the album feels very solid, very good. Better than Force of Luna as a whole but it lacks the standout songs like She Wolf and Totem that were excellent tracks of a good album, this is more of a great album with no standout songs. But it is quite enjoyable to listen to and if you enjoy the female fronted metal of the more symphonic kind it is a good chance that you will enjoy this album quite a lot.

Enigma Fire is a strong album with strong tracks and no obvious flaws. But it is an album that should have them thinking a bit, because if they keep repeating the same stuff they risk becoming a boring band and that might happen quicker than they think, as repeating the same stuff tend to become boring rather quickly. They need to find a little more fresh ideas and evolve to avoid this and they certainly have the style that leaves a lot of room to manoeuvre but to they have the courage to really do it, if they don’t they might make one more album that feels interesting and then it starts to become dull from there. But that is for the future, now I suggest checking out and enjoying the new album Enigma Fire.

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