This is the second album from ANGBAND that release "Visions Of The Seeker" one year after the debut album "Rising From Apadana". The fact that this band hails from Iran makes every release kind of special since the country is having a rough time so, there is no point talking about an active Metal scene that is in a foetal stage. Taking all of the above into consideration, then one has to at least acknowledge the band, the passion and the will to release a Metal album in an unofficial attempt to get Iran in the great Metal map.

"Visions Of The Seeker" continues what the debut album started two years ago. ANGBAND play US power Metal with distinct influences from Florida's ICED EARTH. In fact, Ashkan Yazdani is deeply influenced from Barlow's singing style and in general has a pretty similar timbre. Despite the band's ancestry, Yazdani has no problem with his pronunciation and sounds like a genuine US singer. On the other hand, he faces some difficulties in the higher pitches where he sounds a little bit unstable as heard during "The Seeker". The guitars follow the Schaffer recipe with galloping, staccato rhythms and catchy sing along riffs according to the easy-going pattern of ICED EARTH's "Dark Saga" with a nice finishing touch from "Burnt Offerings". Actually, the latter influences come through the dark atmosphere during the entire album that I found most enjoyable since it gives character to the band's music.

"Visions Of The Seeker" seems to have some problems in the production especially in the drums' sound and the sometimes weak guitar mix. But, please do not forget the means this band was given mainly financially speaking coming from an unknown country from the Metal scene's perspective.

Overall, the album is pretty good and has its fine moments like "Blind Anger" and the interesting percussion or the Epic "Battle for..." where some OMEN finishing layer can be found. ANGBAND have a long way to walk if they want to reach a point where the striking influences have given their place to the original musical identity. The potentials are there and just need time and studio effort to mature and solidify the ANGBAND character.