ATLANTYCA: "To Nowhere and Beyond"

Rating: RR
Label: Brennus/Germusica 2012
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom

Atlantyca is a progressive rock project/band put together by the Putigny brothers (Julien - guitars, Maxime - bass) from Lyon/France. They quickly recruited drummer Laurent Falso and the trio spent a lot of time in the studio, working constantly to develop their songs into demos. Lyric-wise, all the songs on "To Nowhere and Beyond" are linked to the inner journey aka the secret of life and its very existence.

Instead of finding the one vocalist to front their band, the trio decided to approach several class singers from around the world. Andy Kuntz (Vanden Plas - lead on 2 songs), Paul Shortino (Quiet Riot, Rough Cutt, King Kobra, - lead on 'My Road'), Edu Falaschi (Angra, - 2 songs) and David Steele (session vocalist who has recorded with rock legends such as Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, The Cult, - 3 songs) and the women simply known as 'Tara' and 'Michelle' sings lead on one track each.

But here's the catch, there's no info whatsoever in the booklet or press-release about the women?? Are these people responsible for great vocal performances simply not important enough to mention?? In fact, only the men are included as lead vocalists in the press-release. Utter b.s. especially since Michelle sings like a Goddess on "Time After Time" with her slightly raspy voice. Other highlights are "Eternity" - sounds like one of those ballads sung by Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Gary Moore, Hughes/Thrall, etc) and perhaps even more like his performances with the Phenomena project? This time however the song is performed by David Steele and he's not bad at all.

In fact, Steele and Shortino are top notch and the latters' performance on "My Road" is nuthin' but sheer class. Unfortunately, the first three tracks are very average and below and the album doesn't come alive until track five (Eternity). The following four tracks are all great though. The mastering of "To Nowhere and Beyond" was done by Andy VanDette (Rush, Porcupine Tree). Neglect against women is a big no-no though.
www.atlantyca.eu