CoC : Visionaire - Mystical Dominion : Review

Visionaire - _Mystical Dominion_
(Millenial Sun, 1998)
by: Alex Cantwell (7 out of 10)

This is a high quality release, both in layout design and music, all written and performed by one James Allin, who seems to like to take glamour shots with candles. Jokes aside, this is extremely impressive at first glance and also first listen, but a deeper look reveals some weak lyric writing and some subject matter that is quite bizarre ("Mystical Dominion", "Icarian"). Those who listen to music only (or so they say), who don't give a rip about lyrical content, will be able to overlook this to a degree. However, most of the lyrics are in fact understandable, which of course is rare in the genre, and adds uniqueness to this release. This is because James often utilizes a combination of a low, monotone singing voice. The music is melodic death with doom influences, built with riffs that flow in and out of each other fluidly, often with keyboards adding to the structure, and in fact for many songs building the structure. These well written, well placed riffs formulate songs that use a verse/bridge/chorus approach that is a breath of fresh air. Impressive debut, for sure.

Contact: Visionaire, c/o James Allin, 4138 19th St #237

(article published 16/1/1999)