For some reason, when I think of Scandinavia and Heavy Metal, well Tampere is always at the forefront of my thoughts... And I cannot for the life of me figure out why. Well, maybe it was a sign for the coming days. Today, I have the pleasure of reviewing FINAL VOID's most recent release; "Visions Of Fear". The artwork for this album is fear its self, the traditional image of Death apparently come to collect the viewer for their journey onto the next life. It is simple and it is memorable, all boxes ticked in my eyes!

"Prelude" achieves in simply setting an unsettling tone and atmosphere instantly. Who's are the steps that you can hear approaching?... The upbeat and clean introduction of "Common Enemy" caught me of guard a bit, I wasn't, and still am, not overly sure that it fit with the imagery and atmosphere that was built in the first instance. But there is some really fantastic music here, it is catchy and massively enjoyable. The guitar break in the latter stages is simply sublime, and there are the heavy guttural growls that the song simply craves throughout, delivered in small teasing chunks that just makes you want more.

"Fear" and "Unholy Grasp" keep my ears pricked, FINAL VOID have marked themselves as Gothic Metal and I can kind of see it, in a round about way... I was ruined by the forerunners of the genre (the likes of FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM) and as such am not overly well acquainted with the more modern members of the genre, but from what I am hearing thus far, I need to get stuck back in!

There is something about the melodies, the running guitars and subtle backing tracks that just reminds me of DARK TRANQUILITY and I cannot for the life of me shake this comparison. Obviously, there are some absolutely screaming differences, but listen to the melodies in "Symphony Of Lies" and tell me that you can't hear it! "Save Me" had the makings of a sort of ballad for the album, but that was quickly dashed as the main body of the track kicked in. Perhaps it could be stripped back and unplugged in the future as a more intimate performance between band and fans? Just my observation, but I truly think it would be something fantastic!

The final three tracks blur into a haze as they rush past and before I knew it the album was over. Whilst I honestly think that the album was a fantastic release and certainly something for all those involved to be proud of. I think that there needs to be a little bit more time polishing off performances and the mixing could have used a little more finesse, but these are minor points to tweak and finish off a simply magnificent release.