THE VISION PIT

This is the third album from LANDMARQ. The original release of "The Vision Pit" was through SI Music/Roadrunner (SI3073-2), but it was re-issued on LANDMARQ's own label Synergy in 1997, with the same tracks as on the SI Music/Roadrunner release. Damian Wilson, also known from the Prog Metal act THRESHOLD handles the vocals. Damian has got a voice that is very hard to get used to. I really like his vocals on THRESHOLD's album "Wounded Land" from 1993. His voice suites better in that kind of music than in LANDMARQ's. LANDMARQ is playing symphonic rock that is much in the same vein as PENDRAGON, and LANDMARQ is one of the premier bands in this genre from UK. Unfortunately this release doesn't really live up to the same standard as we are used to with other releases that this musicians have been participating in. The main reason lies in the son qualities. There aren't enough of good, memorable tracks to fill up a whole CD. The best tracks though are very good, such as "Cutting Room", "Narovlya" and "Hanblechia". In the CD booklet you can read the following about the track "Narovlya": "This song was inspired by the letter of a kindergarten teacher, Valentina Klimchenko, who was a witness to the devastation of the people of her home town, Narovlya, in Belarus after the terrible catastrophe of the Chernobyl nuclear accident (on the borders of the Ukraine and Belarus) on 26th April 1986". This track makes you think about the damage that we're doing on our planet Earth, and fills you with anger of how the governments are handling catastrophe situations, with inadequate, wrong or no information at all. This track is a masterpiece that almost makes the album as a whole worth having. This is not a bad album, but it leaves a lot to wish for. "Narovlya" though is almost justifying you to buy this CD.