Vanden Plas - Chronicles of the Immortals - Netherworld [Path One]

Vanden Plas does it again with their most ambitious project yet: a full-blown metal opera based on a hugely popular fantasy book series. Nice.I have been a big fan of Vanden Plas for years now, ever since The God Thing (1997), and a big reason why is their ability to create consistently great progressive metal music. Having only released 7 studio albums in their 28 years of existence, it's clear that this German band has ambitions above your average 18 month cycle of recording and touring like other metal outfits. And with the revelation that the best selling author in their homeland counts himself among their fans, it was perhaps natural that they should collaborate for the latest evolution of Vanden Plas' artistic career, Chronicles of the Immortals - Netherworld [Path One].

Based on Wolfgang Hohlbein's vampire series Die Chronik der Unsterblichen (The Chronicle of the Immortals), the author and the band crafted a modern metal opera that debuted on stage at the Pfalztheater in Kaiserslautern in 2012 to 25 sold out shows and standing ovations galore. An attempt to capture that thrilling experience with a studio recorded companion CD became such a huge undertaking that it had to be split into two separate albums, with the second album ("Path 2") being released next year. In order to fit the album format, lead singer Andy Kuntz took on the roles of most of the cast throughout the recording. In addition, some scenes were completely re-written, either becoming simpler (removing large choral arrangements) or more complex (i.e. more solos, and even added orchestration) as constraints dictated or opportunities allowed.

The long and the short of it is that this sounds like classic Vanden Plas, who've always displayed an artistic sense in their music beyond an otherwise by the numbers progmetal band, so this undertaking with Hohlbein just makes sense - especially considering the band's longstanding themes of mortality, spirituality, good and evil, and so forth. You might want to check out the book series, or even the comic book adaptation, to get an idea of what's going on since those sorts of arcane storylines don't always translate across the medium, surrounded by the sturm und drang of the music. But even without the story, this is some great heavy tuneage, ja wohl.

The Bottom Line: Fans of Vanden Plas already know that this is a kick ass progressive metal band. And Chronicles of the Immortals - Netherworld [Path One] is another damn fine release in that vein. The story of an immortal swordsman searching for truth throughout time, battling monsters of every stripe is a natural fit. And if you can't follow the story, you can still rock the hell out to some great balls and chunkTM.

- Genghis would love to see the stage production when it comes out on Blu-Ray...