AT VANCE – Only Human

Not quite as killer as “Dragonchaser”, still not bad at all – At Vance have one of the best singers in scene the today. As always, catchy songs and instrumentals based on well known classical pieces, this time the “Four Seasons”, you know what to expect from an At Vance album by now, and again the band delivers. A little speed metal, some mid-paced sing-a-longers, ballads and a cover; “I Surrender” by Rainbow – again well produced and performed. What I notice is that the incredible Oliver Hartmann sounds like David Coverdale when performing “Hold Your Fire”, but later on, in “Time”, I realize he sounds more like the mighty Jorn Lande, who used to be a Coverdal clone – which by all means are meant as a compliment to Oliver.

Maybe not the greatest, as David had his day while Jorn can be looked upon as a competitor, but it’s still amazing to draw these comparisons. At Vance will, if they didn’t already, go straight home with fans of Stratovarius as well as fans of neo-classical hard rock, which means they have lots of potential. They have a singer who sings circles around Timo Kotipelto, no offense to the latter, and they are just as catchy and even more diverse than the Finns. Despite the fact that there are a couple of fillers on the CD, the future’s bright, if they just get their asses out of native Germany…