I still remember the very first time I came across VAN CANTO when someone showed me their cover of NIGHTWISH's "Wishmaster", and the only thing I remember is that I wasn't sure about them back then. I listened to their albums and I still couldn't really make my mind about them. While most die-hard Metal fans wouldn't even acknowledge them as a real Metal band, I tend to be more on the fandom side.

To be honest, I didn't really care that much about their previous stuff anyway. Their Metal covers were indeed spectacular, however, their original compositions didn't appeal to me at all, really. Well, it seems they've convinced me at last to get into their Capella anthemic Power Metal with the single "Badaboom" (link below). When I saw the video late in 2013, it became immediately and instantly my video of the year due to its epic theme, the catchy sing-along chorus and the overall awesomeness of the video itself.

"Dawn of The Brave" indeed showcases the great extent of the band's evolution from funny rakkatakka and weird cacophony into splendid and more hard-to-believe-it's-capella real-instrument-like vocalizations. The sound has definitely matured, everything just sounds right in place. Although everything is pretty much just vocals, you can still hear how amazingly the "instrumentals" and the singing vocals are clearly distinguished. Inga Scharf is still the one of enlightens up the whole thing.

As one would always expect from VAN CANTO, the album heavily features different covers alongside original sing-along anthems. EUROPE's "Final Countdown" is wonderfully interpreted in arguably the best version I've heard so far, although the famed keyboard riff is slightly watered-down. BLACK SABBATH's "Paranoid" was a good one too, though not really that captivating.

Well, to sum it up, VAN CANTO just keep proving you don't really need any guitars nor a gigantic bass sound to achieve a complete and compelling Power Metal sound, which is the sub-genre I would put them into if I had to choose any label other than Cappella Metal. Even though many people out there still can't stand them, I'd say they are doing things their own way and they're damn good at it.