CURRENTLY RECOMMENDED METAL

Reviews by Dr. Metal

AT VANCE – ONLY HUMAN

2002 AFM Records

The At Vance sound is somewhat neo-classical, like a mix of old Yngwie Malmsteen and today's crisp fast-paced Power Metal. You get the guitar-heroics of Yngwie, provided by Olaf Lenk, a guitar god in his own right. You also get great drumming by Jurgen Lucas and cool atmospheric keyboards by Ulli Muller. For all this talent, fortunately, the focus is more on the song and the chorus. And you get some great chant-along choruses! Check out the chorus to "Take My Pain," "The Time Has Come," "Fly To The Rainbow" (not the Scorpions song) and the title track and you'll understand. The songs are so infectious, you'll want to listen to them over and over. Why? The singer!!!! Oliver Hartmann is the man!!! This guy is so cool. He is reminiscent of Jeff Scott Soto.

The album has 13 songs including their cover of Rainbow's "I Surrender." What a great remake of this song, which really shows how great this band is! Like Yngwie, At Vance have a classical music fetish. They always throw in a couple of instrumentals. They did their own version of "Beethoven's 5th Symphony" on their last album, DRAGONCHASER, that must be heard to be believed. On this new album, they perform Vivaldi's "Four Seasons/Spring" and Bach's "Solfeggietto." Neither is very long and add to the album as a whole. They are spaced well and keep the album moving along. The album was mixed by Sascha Paeth of Rhapsody/Kamelot fame.

The artwork is great– Unique cover and full color booklet. At over 64 minutes, this album is well worth your investment!

DISCOGRAPHY:

NO ESCAPE (1999) Shark

CENTERS-EARLY WORKS (2000) Shark

HEART OF STEEL (2000) Shark

DRAGONCHASER (2001) Shark

ONLY HUMAN (2002) AFM