‘Blood and Angels’ Tears’ is the first chapter in a story spanning two Vision Divine albums. It also is one of their best works yet. Guitarist and mastermind Olaf Thörsen gives us some insight into the story behind the two albums, as well as his creative processes.

“I wrote multiple concept albums over the years”, Thörsen explains. “And there is not a formula I repeat. Which is a good thing, but it is chaotic as well. Of course, I always have the main plot in mind. In this case, I got the idea by reading about the uncommitted in Dante Alighieri’s ‘Divine Comedy’. People who never choose, who never take a position on anything in their whole life.

At the same time, I was reading about the apocalypse. This big battle between demons and angels. And I thought: they were all angels before the battle, or they were probably all brothers. How is it possible that not even one found it difficult to choose to fight? Because if the moment comes that we need to fight, I would be one of those who would have a problem choosing if we were all brothers. Because before choosing, I would need to understand what’s going on and who’s right. That’s how wars start: someone tells you to pull the trigger, and you don’t even know why.

Basically, that’s the starting point. Then what I do, I try to set up a very short story: this is the problem, this is what happens, this is how it ends. I do have a start and an end. And then I start with the music. I write the music, and slowly the two sides start to go towards their goal together. I couldn’t tell when they switch in order of importance.

Sometimes, I have a chapter lyrically, or the concept anyway, and then I adapt the music. Other times, I have a very good part of a song, and the music itself inspires the atmosphere of the chapter. Then I go back, I modify some parts of the music, or I modify some parts of the lyrics, until the result is the way I have it in mind.”

Deteriorated Concentration

What made things slightly different this time around, is that the album is based on Thörsen’s yet to be published novel ‘The Ballet of Blood and Angels’ Tears’:  “When I started writing the music, the book was already done. The only problem was how to shrink it down in order to fit an album. One album was impossible, so that’s why we have decided to split it into two albums.

I like concept albums a lot. And sometimes, I have the chance of reading about these concepts. The description would be intriguing, but then I was reading the lyrics, and if it wasn’t for the plot explanation, I wouldn’t understand anything, because an album goes by too quickly. That’s something I am always mindful of. I try to condense it, but still make it possible to understand what’s going on.”

This also means that the second part of the diptych is already in the works. “We wrote about fifty percent of the upcoming album”, Thörsen confirms. “For the remaining fifty percent, we decided to cool down a bit, even to absorb the reactions to the first part, and then complete the second part.

Sometimes when you focus too much, you are excited, you keep working and working on it, and you don’t realize your concentration has deteriorated terribly. You feel like you’re giving a hundred percent, but actually you’re giving twenty percent. That’s why we decided: let’s cool down, let’s relax, play some shows, have some fun for the summer, and then we can come back to finish the rest of the story.”

Different Paths

Thörsen started Vision Divine when he was still part of Labÿrinth. He left the band for a while to focus on Vision Divine, but has been back playing with both bands for the last decade and a half. Despite the stylistic similarities, Thörsen never has any issues deciding which idea is for which band. “For me, it is very simple”, he says. “Confusion could have been possible in the very first years of the two bands, because the styles were a bit similar, both being power metal bands.

Of course, in my mind, the differences were already there. But I can understand why people would say that our first album ‘Vision Divine’ (1999) could have been published under the Labÿrinth moniker with some alterations. ‘Blood and Angels’ Tears’, however, is an album that is completely different from what Labÿrinth is used to composing and playing. Nowadays, the two bands are completely different.

We are both part of this big bubble called prog/power, or power/prog. But if you press play on two different albums, nobody would think they are from the same band. Also, I don’t write something and then choose for which band I’m going to use it. But when I compose for Vision Divine, I already know the style, and the way I’m going to move within the song. It’s going to be different from how I would do it if I would be writing for Labÿrinth. ‘Stream of Consciousness’ (2004) is when the two bands started following two completely different paths, musically speaking.”

Digging in the Underdog World

Vision Divine is also a vehicle for incredible lead singers. Besides two stints with Thörsen’s close friend Fabio Lione, the band introduced both Michele Luppi and current singer Ivan Giannini to a larger audience. Where does Thörsen keep finding these great singers? “It’s a secret”, he smiles. “You just need to take the time, and carefully listen to them. That’s what I usually do.

I do have a couple of rules of course. The first rule: I prefer to not consider a singer that’s already well-known. It’s okay if you have a history, of course. At this point, I wouldn’t choose to work with any 20-year-old singer, but at the same time, a singer that is too well-known would be a problem. It could be a good thing that such a singer brings his name, his experience, and his fan base, but at the same time, he would probably bring a bit of the style of the music he is known for as well. That could be dangerous.

Let me tell you: there are many great singers. I really like digging in the underdog world. I don’t stop with the very first single, video or mp3 I’m given. Then I start digging, and see how the voice adapts to different styles, genres, ballads, fast songs, and so on.

A very important detail is the sound of the voice. What I mean is that it’s not a Formula 1 race car. I’m not looking for the highest pitch or the best technique. Once you can stay in tune, and have a decent range for the music I write, that’s what I care about. You have to be capable of working within the range of the songs that I have been working with over the last 25 years.”

New Inspiration

“That’s what happened with Ivan as well. I started checking him out, and after a few different songs with different bands and in different styles, I would recognize he was the one for Vision Divine. And that’s what I think is important for a band. The singer is like the striker in a football team. You may be the best team playing the best football, but if the striker doesn’t score any goals, you’re not going to win.

Having a voice that is recognizable is the most important thing. After all, if you think about every band you like, the voice is probably the most recognizable thing about it. It’s a delicate matter, but as long as you find the perfect voice for your music, you might even get new inspiration.”

That is also why it is important for Thörsen that the singers he works with contribute to their own vocal melodies. “If you only interpret the songs I’m giving you, then you are simply a session player”, he states. “Then you’re not adding anything to the band. And that is not going to last very long. If you want a band to really be capable of continuing creating music, you don’t need session players.

I may bring the melody, or the keyboard player may, but even so, you can modify it and adapt it to your own voice. That is really important to me. It’s like making a movie. The difference is that we don’t have a huge Hollywood budget. The only thing we can replace millions with is passion. So I always discuss my ideas, my concept and my lyrics with Ivan. And I can always adapt things. I’m always happy to discuss things until everyone in the band understands and agrees with what we are going to do.”

Ten Times More Difficult

Thörsens solos are known for their rapid runs between catchy melodies. This may be surprising given his soloing methods. “Hundred percent improvised”, he describes it. “The only album for which I tried to write something was my very first time in the studio when I was young, with ‘No Limits’ (1996). Then, of course, you are so excited and so worried at the same time. At home, everything sounds good, and then you see the red light that says ‘recording’, and it all becomes ten times more difficult.

So with ‘No Limits’, I prepared something, and that’s when I realized it was making everything so difficult, so stressful, because every time you try to do it, it doesn’t sound as you thought it would sound. The truth is: it didn’t sound good at home either, but you didn’t have a recording, so you thought it sounded good.

So since then, since ‘Return to Heaven Denied’ (1998), I decided to just let it go. Of course, I know the songs, I wrote and recorded them, I know the chord progressions, I know the key… I have enough information to just let it go. On the first take, there’s usually some idea that sounds good, so I stop, I listen to it, I try to memorize what I did, and then try to adapt. Usually, I get the final result in a few takes.

What is very comfortable now that we are in a digital era: if everything sounds good, and I screw up just a few notes at the end or in the middle, I can easily change that part. However, if there are too many things I don’t like, I prefer to re-do everything. It’s exciting to don’t know what you’re going to do until you do it. And then you learn what you just did. That’s a fun part of the process.”

Rich Enough

Fellow guitarist Frederico Puleri can also be heard soloing on ‘Blood and Angels’ Tears’. “Of all band members, Pule is the one with the weirdest position”, Thörsen admits. “He joined the band as a live session player, but didn’t appear on the albums for some time. Even ‘Stream of Consciousness’ and ‘The Perfect Machine’ (2005); even though he was with the band, he wasn’t on those albums, because the band was born as a five-piece band with one guitar.

After the first album, I was touring alone, and then I decided having two guitars is better, because the bands I like always had twin guitarists, so I was missing something. I’m not connected with the progressive bands that have one guitar and keyboards. It doesn’t sound rich enough to me on stage.

Then slowly, we started involving Pule more in studio. He joined the band in 2001, and he has always been very respectful of his role. The guy is part of the family. It was actually me who wanted him to be more involved with recording, because I was starting to feel a bit awkward recording everything, doing all the solos, and then telling him what to do in the live situation.

It’s something which came out naturally, and I’m pretty happy with how it came out. There’s no competition, no calculating who did how many solos. Usually, I start first, because that’s how the music was born, and I know where the main parts are going. But we also know that for the music we play, there are many parts where we may need more, and we can split the solos between Alessio (Lucatti, keyboard player), Pule and me.”

A Bit Sorry

The fact that the power metal influences have become more prominent on ‘Blood and Angels’ Tears’ and its excellent 2019 predecessor ‘When All the Heroes Are Dead’ was quite surprising, as 2009’s ‘9 Degrees West of the Moon’ and 2012’s ‘Destination Set to Nowhere’ sounded like deliberate attempts to move in a more progressive direction. “For ‘Destination’, yes”, Thörsen confirms. “The actual truth with ‘9 Degrees’ is that there is a big story behind it, because the producer was Timo Tolkki and he completely screwed up the recordings.

It’s a very long story, but he wanted us to record everything live, all together. Fabio had to sing the whole album all in one day, like it was a show. I understand the benefit of that, keeping the music true. But at the same time, these were not songs that we were used to playing. We had basically just written them. If you want to do it like that, you need to do a pre-production. Like we were doing in the past: going into the studio, practicing the songs as if you’re playing a live show, and recording them. That’s what we did with Labÿrinth for ‘Sons Of Thunder’ (2000).

If you listen to ‘9 Degrees’, there are no acoustic guitars, because Timo cut everything. In the end, I like it, because the atmosphere is intentionally dark, but the final result is worse than what I have on the demos. We always prepare demos, and those sound much, much better than the actual album. That’s the only album I’m a bit sorry about. It’s the only one for which I would like to re-record everything, and have it sound the way it was supposed to.

‘Destination’, on the other hand, was probably the first time released something one hundred percent the way we wanted, in terms of sound and production. After ‘9 Degrees’, we managed to produce the album ourselves. It’s a bit more progressive than the other stuff we released, but that’s what we wanted. I wouldn’t change a single note on the album. It’s perfect the way it is.”

First Concerts

Vision Divine’s live plans for Europe and North America are still somewhat limited at the time of writing. “As usual, whenever we release something, our first concerts go to Japan and South America”, Thörsen explains. “Those are the continents where we are most popular, so they are always the first ones raising their hands when we release a new album.

But because this album is doing so well, I can tell you something interesting. For the first time, we got an offer to work with a very good agency, which we accepted. It is Dragon Productions, the same agency working for the likes of Kamelot and Sonata Arctica. So for this album, we are going to work with them, and hopefully they are able to make us tour a bit more in Europe, where it’s always been more difficult for us.”