AFTERIMAGE is a Heavy Metal band hailing from Syros Island in Greece. With their album "Traveler In Crystal Visions", they've actually accomplished a bit of Metal history by releasing the first Heavy Metal album from a band on Syros Island. The album comes to us via Steel Gallery Records, who admittedly never stop scouring Greece for Metal bands of potential. AFTERIMAGE was founded in 2015 by vocalist Chris Papadakis and drummer Kostas Moiragias. The remainder of the band is rounded out with Petros Printezis and Andreas Hatziioannou guitars and Sideris Dalezios on bass.

"Traveler In Crystal Visions" is the quintet's debut album and tracks in with ten songs. The album opens with "Traveler", and immediately you realize Papadakis has a unique vocal approach. Somewhat reminiscent of Geddy Lee of RUSH, crossed with Midnight of CRIMSON GLORY, I'd be misleading you if I said it didn't take me a bit to get accustomed to it. Musically, we've got a pretty standard Melodic Metal approach, but the there's a modern feel to the band's presentation as well. "Phoenix" rises next, and I found it to be one of my highlights. Straight forward, heavy Melodic and riff driven, just about everything works on this track.

"Crystal Ball" really showcases the dual guitar harmony approach of Printezis and Hatziioannou, while Dalezios  and Moiragias provide a steady, and at times galloping back rhythm. There's almost a NWOBHM MAIDEN feel present here. "Control" slows down the pace a bit, but still retains a MAIDEN feel, particularly with the vocal approach. The presentation reminded me very much of "Hallowed Be Thy Name". But make no mistake, Papadakis is no Dickenson. While the presentation calls to mind Bruce, Papadakis's vocals are definitely uniquely his own and quite an acquired taste.

Overall, "Traveler In Crystal Visions" shows some promise. The band shows talent and fluidity. For me personally, the vocals are just not enjoyable. I simply can't get past them, and find them distracting. I also found the production and mixing to be a bit suspect, but that can sometimes be forgiven with a debut recording. In this case though, it's obvious that different instruments were recorded separately, with the drums being the obvious. Ultimately, it's an album that really just misses its mark with me. There are moments of promise, but as a whole collective effort just seems to fall short on too many levels.