‘When All The Heroes Are Dead’ and I kind of got off on the wrong foot. After the band’s amazing new singer Ivan Giannini was introduced through the excellent single ‘Angel Of Revenge’, the singles from the following album largely left me cold. Listening to the album now, I am not quite sure why. It is easily their best album since Michele Luppi left the band fifteen years ago and it sees Vision Divine reconnecting with their power metal roots, albeit with slightly more pronounced AOR leanings than before. That typical Italian style of hyper-melodic power metal hardly gets any better than this.

Band leader Olaf Thörsen apparently wanted to re-establish Vision Divine as a progressive power metal band with a larger emphasis on the progressive side than ever before when original singer Fabio Lione joined the band after Luppi’s departure. The stylistic shift did work, but the band’s characteristic memorable songwriting was sacrificed somewhat in the process. Giannini’s arrival may have inspired Thörsen to steer Vision Divine towards a more melodic direction again. Contrary to its two predecessors, I can remember the melodies and choruses of multiple songs on ‘When All The Heroes Are Dead’ after hearing the album only once: a sign of excellent melodic songwriting.

Opening track ‘The 26th Machine’ has a chorus that contrasts with the rest of the song in terms of atmosphere and that initially threw me off. These days, the track is the perfect opening track for the album to me. All riffs have a triumphant quality and while the song largely follows a standard structure, some of the twists feel quite surprising. The speedy ‘The King Of The Sky’ is another fantastic power metal track and my personal highlight of the album. It’s full of propulsive palm-muted riffs and soaring melodies. Semi-title track ‘Now That All The Heroes Are Dead’ is stylistically similar, but has a more melancholic feel.

Giannini’s voice deserves extra attention. Thörsen really has a radar for great singers with impressive ranges. Unlike his two predecessors, however, Giannini has a slight sandpaper edge to his voice, which makes him sound so much more powerful and emotional than most singers in this particular style of power metal. This is also what makes a more AOR-oriented track as ‘Were I God’ work much better than it would have otherwise. His voice is also what lifts ‘3 Men Walk On The Moon’ to a higher level. His ever-shifting vocal approach adds an incredible amount of depth and dynamic range to the song.

Though ‘When All The Heroes Are Dead’ is not a perfect album, it is an incredible introduction to the combination of Vision Divine’s songwriting and Giannini’s vocal prowess. Ultimately, my biggest complaint about the album is that ‘Angel Of Revenge’ is not on every version of the album, as it is clearly one of the best Vision Divine songs to date. This style of power metal is made almost exclusively in Italy and often verges on being too emotionally pathetic to impress me, but Vision Divine has impressed me since their debut album and after a slight dip, continues to impress me with ‘When All The Heroes Are Dead’.

Recommended tracks: ‘The King Of The Sky’, ‘3 Men Walk On The Moon’, ‘The 26th Machine’