At Vance – “Facing Your Enemy”

At Vance is yet another German power metal band formed by a singer and a guitarist from other (apparently) famous power metal bands that, I personally have never head of. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like power metal as much as any other genre in metal, but at times it can be a bit too pompous and overblown for its own good. And while At Vance is definitely pompous and overblown, they also write some damn good songs!

The band’s shining star is lead singer Rick Altzi, who is a phenomenal vocalist. Sound-wise he is most comparable to Mats Leven (a past singer for At Vance itself as well as Therion and a slew of other power metal bands), but still possesses his own unique sound. Rick really brings that extra “oomph” to the songs that take them over the top.

Sure it may be over-the-top at times, but Facing Your Enemy is a damn good album. Stand-out tracks for me are the title track and “Heaven is Calling”. “Facing Your Enemy” in particular is phenomenal and as a single, is well worth the cost of buying the album alone.

Track Listing:

01. Heaven Is Calling
02. Facing Your Enemy
03. Eyes of a Stranger
04. Fear No Evil
05. Live & Learn
06. Don’t Dream
07. See Me Crying
08. Saviour
09. Tokyo
10. March of the Dwarf
11. Fame and Fortune
12. Things I Never Needed

Run Time: 49:42
Release Date: June 19, 2012

Check out the song: “Facing Your Enemy”