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Never heard of Atlantyca? Well, that's no surprise, coz the Putigny brothers - Julien on guitars and Maxime on bass - present their debut album To Nowhere And Beyond. The brothers hooked up with drummer Laurent Falso and asked some singers to add vocals.
They kick off with the instrumental Impulse, the opener starts with some noises, spoken words... the sound of surf and guitar. Then heavy riffs, thunderous drums... The trio demonstrates their skills without pushing too much, it's a progressive metal tune with complex parts and catchy passages. Next in line is Standard Man, a track which features Vanden Plas singer Andy Kuntz. A sonic roller coaster ride with guitar-based soft, rock passages and heavy, metallic parts - and on top Andy Kuntz powerful, emotional vocals. The title track features Edu Falaschi, the Angra fronter ennobles this heavy, groove-based tune, but Nowhere And Beyond also offers some softer passages. At Beyond Infinite you listen to David Steele who so far 'only' worked as a session singer for e.g. Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard. This tune is more rock-based, has a symphonic edge, but also offers heavy riffs. Mr. Steele also lends his voice to Eternity, a guitar-based balladesque rocker. The riff-based track Time After Time has a dark edge... A bit gothic-like due to keyboards and Michelle's vocals. No idea who this Michelle is, but she's doing a good job. You hear the wind blow and it takes you on My Road with Paul Shortino (King Kobra, Rough Cutt, ex-Quite Riot). His raspy voice gives the ballad a sad note, but it fits just perfectly. A real prog rocker is cEvilisation which features David Steele, but once again Atlantyca show that they like to vary within a song. The closer Underworlds is the heaviest track on To Nowhere And Beyond, and it sticks out due to shared vocal duties. Beside Andy Kuntz and Edu Falaschi a female singer with the name Tara is singing on this monster track. If the closer is an indication for what to come from the French trio, then I can't wait to hear more of them! No surprise that they hooked up these guys to sing on their debut!
Personally I'm not too happy with the sound, even if they were going for a warm, organic sound it's a bit too... dull. But it's their debut and it seems they recorded it on their own... Anyway, next time they can do better. ;)
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