Victoria K
Essentia

Victoria K is an Australian band, so I should have written this review in Australian English, but I am afraid that I know even less of that version than I know of the British or American – so forget it. Victoria herself is from Melbourne and was first imagining this project to be solo thing but it became a band instead and recently they gave us the debut Essentia. If you believe the title it is an essential release, but after seeing the cover I doubt as the logo and type font of the title seem to indicate something like Epica, Nightwish and many other similar artists – quite a generic cover on this one. So I don’t think you will be surprised when I claim that you can compare with the names I just mentioned.

It is melodic metal with female vocals and symphonic undertones, nothing really revolutionary here. The album production is good, and so are the vocals; I like that Victoria avoids going for a pseudo soprano vocal style, the more standard rock voice fits much better. I like the soundscapes they paint but would yearn for something a bit fresher and some surprises, the album feels somewhat predictable – but the variation is good and playing time sensible, so at least it is a good production.

When we go into the Matrix I am drawn into the music of Victoria K, it is great at that moment. It is rather great at the other moments as well, but not as great and I find myself wanting this album to be more, I want it to be enchanting, fresh, dramatic, and exciting; but it is just good, maybe semi-great, only once it catches my attention. Where is the novelty? Usually Australians do have a somewhat own way of presenting their music, this sounds much like the European bands that has inspired it and I am not quite drawn to it. Not to say that I don’t like it, and I am even more sure that fans of the genre will like it as it seems like music fans love repetition and fear novelty and in that regard this band shows brilliance.

It is a good album, pretty enjoyable to listen to, very nice background music. Agreeable songs and even the growls feel mellow and inoffensive, this band should appeal to a wide audience and should sell quite well if it gets enough visibility – it will certainly not scare fans away. So, with all those words written I conclude that this album will do fine as it is a well-crafted production that presses the right buttons and never deviate from the format that some innovative bands once came up with and that now has been done pretty much to death.

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