Band:	At Vance
Album:	VII
Style:	Heavy metal, Power metal
Release date:	June 29, 2007
A review by:	Jeff

01. Breaking The Night
02. Shiver
03. Cold As Ice
04. Victory
05. Friendly Fire
06. Golden Leaves
07. Answer Me
08. Shine
09. Truth
10. Lost In Your Love

At Vance is this kind of bands which frequently release a new album but every time, this is the same kind of music, this is never new and surprising. It's a bit sad because this band is composed of great musicians and I don't understand how they cannot propose something a bit deeper and complex? "VII" is their new album and just follows the trend, this is not a bad album but something so basic and generic that it will only please the fans of the band (and why not, the ones who still like this kind of Metal?).

With "WII", At Vance didn't change its recipe. They still play this kind of German Heavy Metal mixed with Hard FM and well this is not something super orgasmic, at least for me. I'm not saying that "VII" is bad, the songs are ok in general and the musicians know how to do their job but I don't know, I tried to listen to this release a lot of times and no, I don't find any real interest in this album. The main problem is that the CD is a bit weak and only composed of mid tempo songs and semi-ballads. It's really monotonous, not bad I say it again but I don't think that a lot of people will find a lot of interest in this release. At Vance is not a bad band but I would like to see some craziness in their next albums, they can do it and if they know how to add something more in their music, you can be sure that a lot of people will talk about them. Right now, they're still doing their stuff without any risk and sorry but it doesn't work with me?

The production is great, and even if Mat Levens is not in the band anymore I have to admit that the new singer Rick Altzi is a really good surprise, he is really convincing in my opinion. But the production, the recording and the fact that the musicians are good performers is not everything, and unfortunately "VII" is quickly boring after some listening. No really, without being bad, this album is just hyper generic and will quickly become boring with time?

"VII" is not a bad album but it's a really generic one. If you're a fan of the German combo, of course you'll have to buy this release but if you're looking for something original and surprising, you'll quickly have to go away. We have nothing bad here but we have nothing that will stay in our memories for ever too. At Vance should try to do a little break and stop its "race" to release an album every year? and then, maybe that a better inspiration will appear?