At Vance

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Ragehead91
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At Vance

Post by Ragehead91 » Tue Jul 07, 2009 7:53 pm

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At Vance are a German neo-classical power metal band founded in 1998 by guitarist Olaf Lenk and singer Oliver Hartmann and guitarist Olaf Lenk in 1998. Befor they founded At Vance, they also were founders of the AOR band Centers. This band is one of my favourite Power Metal band for a long time. They're propably also the most consistent bands when it comes to their albums. All of their 8 albums (the latest one "Ride the Sky" will be released on 18th of september by AFM Records) feature quality Power Metal. And although one could argue that Chained (2005) and VII (2007) were two of their more lackluster relases, I still think that they haven't released a bad album since their genesis. Olaf Lenk, who is the mastermind of the band, alsways good taste when it comes to musicians, especially singer. All the three singers that were part of the Band (Oliver Hartmann (1998-2002), Mats Leven (2003-2006) and Rick Altzi (2006-Present)) are ecxelent. If you're into Neo Classical Power Metal or Power Metal in generel, you should defenitly chekc them out.

At Vance are:
Rick Altz (Thunderstone, Sandalinas, Frequency) - Vocals
Olaf Lenk (Ex-Centers, Ex-Zed Diago, Ex-Velvet Vipers) - Guitars, Keyboards
Wolfman Black (Justice) - Bass
Alex Landenburg (Axxis, Meakong Delta, Angels's Cry, Ex-Annihilator) - Drums

Notable Ex-Members:
Oliver Hartmann (Hartman, Ex-Empty Tremor, Ex-Centers) - Vocals (1998-2002)
Mats Leven (Amaseffer, Krux, Fatal Force, AB/CD, Ex-Therion, Ex-Abstarkt Algebra, Ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, Ex-Swedish Erotica, Ex-Treat, Ex-Sabbatail, Ex-Dogface, Ex-Pontus Norgen, Ex-Southpaw) - Vocals (2003-2006)
Mat Cross (Firewind, Outloud, Ex-Helloween, Ex-Metalium, Ex-Kingdom Come) - Drums (2005-2006)

Discography:
1999: No Escape
2000: Heart of Steel
2001: Dragonchaser
2001: Centers - Early Works (compilation of songs from Olad's and Oliver's former Band Centers)
2002: Only Human
2003: The Evil in You
2005: Chained
2007: VIII
2009: Ride the Sky

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icecab21
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Re: At Vance

Post by icecab21 » Tue Jul 07, 2009 8:28 pm

Awsome news, i'm looking forward to seeing what claisscal songs they cover for this one, hope they are still doing those.

Ragehead91
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Re: At Vance

Post by Ragehead91 » Tue Jul 07, 2009 8:30 pm

icecab21 wrote:Awsome news, i'm looking forward to seeing what claisscal songs they cover for this one, hope they are still doing those.
Well, the last time they did, they only did it as a bonus track for Japan I think sadly. :cry:

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Re: At Vance

Post by Ragehead91 » Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:41 pm

And if I havent said it yet:
CHECK THEM OUT! CHECK THEM OUT! CHECK THEM OUT! DAMN THOSE GUYS NEED TO GET MORE POPULAR!

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icecab21
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Re: At Vance

Post by icecab21 » Wed Jul 08, 2009 3:58 am

i with they still had oliver hartmann, i have not liked their latest albums as much so i hope this one becomes a favorite of mine.

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Re: At Vance

Post by Ragehead91 » Wed Jul 08, 2009 4:44 am

There last one was okay. It wasn't extremly bad but it also wasn't extremly good. It had it's songs (Friendly Fire, Golden Leaves, Shiver) but overall it was sort of meh. Not by any means bad but meh.

But you have to say that Lenk has a golden hand for singers. Hartmann, Leven and Altz were all awesome. I wish that He'd get Jorn Lande some day and record an album to make up for the Malmsteen Album with Jorn that, thanks to Malmsteen being, well, Mallmsteen, never happened.

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icecab21
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Re: At Vance

Post by icecab21 » Wed Jul 08, 2009 4:57 am

the band definitly has high skilled players.
jorn would be great for working with lenk. i can't really get into jorn solos stuff but when he works with other bands he does some stuff that i really love.

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Re: At Vance

Post by Ragehead91 » Wed Jul 08, 2009 5:15 am

icecab21 wrote:the band definitly has high skilled players.
jorn would be great for working with lenk. i can't really get into jorn solos stuff but when he works with other bands he does some stuff that i really love.
I understand. It took me a while to get into Jorn solo too. The Hard Rock stuff he does is interesting but to me it seems that the only reason ppl listen to Jorn is, well Jorn. They have a great frontman but the songs, nah. He has some cachy songs like Night City, Duke of Love, Out to Every Nation and such, but overall it is rather average. If they would be performed by any other band I'm sure no one would care about them. That is at least my opinion. And I would simply love to hear Jorn in a Neo-Classical sort of project.

The best stuff Jorn was in is in my opinion Masterplan, the 1 Beyond Twilight Album and the 1 Millenium Album. Millenium makes some good Hard Rock/Melodic Metal. This is the kind of stuff Jorn should do.

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icecab21
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Re: At Vance

Post by icecab21 » Wed Jul 08, 2009 5:35 am

i really liked jorn in brazen abbot with Nikolo Kotzev as well.

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Re: At Vance

Post by Ragehead91 » Wed Jul 08, 2009 5:41 pm

I thin the two/soon to be three Allen/Lande Albums are also worth a mention.

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Re: At Vance

Post by Mormegil » Wed Jul 08, 2009 8:15 pm

They have some amazing versions of old classical pieces, Vivaldi's Winter being my favourite. I also really like their singer, so who know's perhaps I'll check this one out.

Stealing name from Helloween-classic is really lame though. :P

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Re: At Vance

Post by Ragehead91 » Wed Jul 08, 2009 8:16 pm

But can you blame them? Ride the Sky sounds awesome after all.

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Re: At Vance

Post by Ragehead91 » Mon Aug 31, 2009 2:51 pm

T VANCE To Release 'Ride The Sky' Next Month - Aug. 30, 2009
German/Swedish metallers AT VANCE will release their eighth album, "Ride The Sky", on September 18 via AFM Records. The CD was produced by AT VANCE mastermind Olaf Lenk and features "lightning-quick smashers ('End Of Days'), anthemic, riff-based tracks ('Burning Like Fire'), stomping hymns ('Ride The Sky'), powerful, dramatic tunes ('Salvation Day') and even a cover version of the FREE classic 'Wishing Well'," according to a press release. "On 'Farewell', the band adds a progressive touch to their sound Rick Altzi does a tremendous job on vocals while Lenk comes up with some of the best tracks he has ever written and brilliant guitar licks galore."

"Ride The Sky" track listing:

01. Ride The Sky
02. Torn - Burning Like Fire
03. Last In Line
04. Wishing Well
05. Salvation Day
06. Vivaldi, Summer 2nd Set
07. Power
08. You And I
09. End Of Days
10. Falling
11. Farewell

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DAMN I want this album! :shock:

Btw: where the hell is Alex Landenburg on that picture? Was he too busy promoting the new Axxis CD?

They've also updated their website:
http://www.at-vance.com/www09/home09.htm

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Re: At Vance

Post by Rage1979 » Tue Sep 01, 2009 12:18 am

I loved "The evil in you" amazing album, but "Chained" wasn't that good and the last one VII is close to horrible in my opinion.. I really hope that They will return making great music again.

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Re: At Vance

Post by SinisterStar » Tue Sep 01, 2009 12:40 am

I loved everything up to Chained. VII IMO was a piece of crap, only a few good songs and Altzi really just doesnt seem like a good fit for the album

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Re: At Vance

Post by Ragehead91 » Tue Sep 01, 2009 12:39 pm

Why all the hate for VIII? I think it was a good album and a good debut for Altzi. Golden Leaves, Friendly Fire, Shiver, Victory, Shine and Truth are great songs in my opinion!

I agree on the Chained thing though. The album wasn't good.

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Re: At Vance

Post by SinisterStar » Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:26 am

Well Ride the Sky has leaked and while its nothing groundbreaking it is very good and beats the hell out of VII

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Re: At Vance

Post by Ragehead91 » Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:36 pm

SinisterStar wrote:Well Ride the Sky has leaked and while its nothing groundbreaking it is very good and beats the hell out of VII
Everyone who really expects to find something groundbreaking new and/or progressive in the music of At Vance doesn't know the band very well. Olaf Lenk isn't a inovator by any means but he can write very good and catchy songs.

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Re: At Vance

Post by Rage1979 » Tue Sep 08, 2009 12:55 pm

Ragehead91 wrote:
SinisterStar wrote:Well Ride the Sky has leaked and while its nothing groundbreaking it is very good and beats the hell out of VII
Everyone who really expects to find something groundbreaking new and/or progressive in the music of At Vance doesn't know the band very well. Olaf Lenk isn't a inovator by any means but he can write very good and catchy songs.
He is a quite good player too =)

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Re: At Vance

Post by Ragehead91 » Tue Sep 08, 2009 1:08 pm

Rage1979 wrote:
Ragehead91 wrote:
SinisterStar wrote:Well Ride the Sky has leaked and while its nothing groundbreaking it is very good and beats the hell out of VII
Everyone who really expects to find something groundbreaking new and/or progressive in the music of At Vance doesn't know the band very well. Olaf Lenk isn't a inovator by any means but he can write very good and catchy songs.
He is a quite good player too =)
Indeed.
Again, I wish he would do some kind of project with Jorn Lande to make up for the Malmsteen album with Jorn that never happened.

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Re: At Vance

Post by Rage1979 » Thu Sep 10, 2009 11:02 pm

Ragehead91 wrote:
Rage1979 wrote:
Ragehead91 wrote:
SinisterStar wrote:Well Ride the Sky has leaked and while its nothing groundbreaking it is very good and beats the hell out of VII
Everyone who really expects to find something groundbreaking new and/or progressive in the music of At Vance doesn't know the band very well. Olaf Lenk isn't a inovator by any means but he can write very good and catchy songs.
He is a quite good player too =)
Indeed.
Again, I wish he would do some kind of project with Jorn Lande to make up for the Malmsteen album with Jorn that never happened.
Yeah, why not? By the way, this album sounds promising. I will listen to it more.

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Re: At Vance

Post by Ragehead91 » Thu Sep 10, 2009 11:39 pm

Rage1979 wrote:
Ragehead91 wrote:
Rage1979 wrote:
Ragehead91 wrote:
SinisterStar wrote:Well Ride the Sky has leaked and while its nothing groundbreaking it is very good and beats the hell out of VII
Everyone who really expects to find something groundbreaking new and/or progressive in the music of At Vance doesn't know the band very well. Olaf Lenk isn't a inovator by any means but he can write very good and catchy songs.
He is a quite good player too =)
Indeed.
Again, I wish he would do some kind of project with Jorn Lande to make up for the Malmsteen album with Jorn that never happened.
Yeah, why not? By the way, this album sounds promising. I will listen to it more.
Jorn is back with Masterplan. Rumor has it that he'll also reunite with Ark for one album. So why not a project with Altz?

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Re: At Vance

Post by Intiaani » Fri Sep 11, 2009 2:52 am

Because "checking them out" means (illegally?) downloading their music from the internet, yes, I think I shall check the new record out. After all, I have their debut, No Escape, as a hard copy -- HOW MANY ACTUALLY HAVE IT? No-one really values music that is basically known as generic anyway - so the band can only please me surprisingly positively or be that semi-good power I always thought they'd be. :roll: And I have a right to say this, I believe, since downloading music from the internet has, without a doubt, about 50 times multipleyed my music BUYING alone!

As for Ragehead's taste, I still can't find anything reasonable to grab. :D Why dig those average bands like PowrWolf and At Vance, while there are cooler occasions anyway, such as Wuthering Heights from Denmark? 8)

Nah, just kidding. Everyone of us naturally has their own opinions. Although Wuthering really ARE the best I've found in years! Those song making skills and folk expressions... and balls! Patrik Johansson must be the most multi-dimensional metal singer... ever?, alone, whereas, Eric Ravn must be THE power metal composer of the 2000s, with only his band's two albums from this decade. :) As much as I "hate" the term "underrated", if there's one and only band ridiculously underrated (via publicity vs. the quality of their music), it is them, Wuthering Heights.
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Re: At Vance

Post by hiro23 » Fri Sep 11, 2009 9:04 am

I've barely discovered at vance and I must say they are very good.

I'll definitely have to buy a few albums now, oh and not to nit pick but it's Mark Cross not Mat Cross
metal feeds the beast

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icecab21
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Re: At Vance

Post by icecab21 » Fri Sep 11, 2009 9:46 am

Mat should name his baby "Chris".

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Re: At Vance

Post by Ragehead91 » Fri Sep 11, 2009 1:53 pm

Intiaani wrote:Because "checking them out" means (illegally?) downloading their music from the internet, yes, I think I shall check the new record out. After all, I have their debut, No Escape, as a hard copy -- HOW MANY ACTUALLY HAVE IT? No-one really values music that is basically known as generic anyway - so the band can only please me surprisingly positively or be that semi-good power I always thought they'd be. :roll: And I have a right to say this, I believe, since downloading music from the internet has, without a doubt, about 50 times multipleyed my music BUYING alone!

As for Ragehead's taste, I still can't find anything reasonable to grab. :D Why dig those average bands like PowrWolf and At Vance, while there are cooler occasions anyway, such as Wuthering Heights from Denmark? 8)

Nah, just kidding. Everyone of us naturally has their own opinions. Although Wuthering really ARE the best I've found in years! Those song making skills and folk expressions... and balls! Patrik Johansson must be the most multi-dimensional metal singer... ever?, alone, whereas, Eric Ravn must be THE power metal composer of the 2000s, with only his band's two albums from this decade. :) As much as I "hate" the term "underrated", if there's one and only band ridiculously underrated (via publicity vs. the quality of their music), it is them, Wuthering Heights.
Checking them out isn't per Illegal downloading. You might as well can go to their Myspace of Last.FM page or whatever website is trendy nowadays.

At Vance may be generic. But not PowerWolf. PowerWolf rock. But yeah, ppl should definitly check out Wuthering Heights.

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Re: At Vance

Post by Intiaani » Fri Sep 11, 2009 5:49 pm

I can't really tell the difference between checking things out on YouTube or Spotify for example. Isn't the point that you're ought not to listen to the album before it's released and you've paid for it? You can hear the songs before altogether, whether you download them or search YouTube for example. :)

Well, I remember that Shiver incident anyway. Didn't At Vance steal that song from a Finnish band and put it out on their own album? Of course these things can happen anyway, subconsciously. "Hey, I have this melody on my head... but wait, does it exist already?" We talked something about this already on that Forever being a rip-off topic, though. Their debut album, however, is kinda good. It's pretty addictive - I don't like it THAT much, but I've listened it through very many times whatsoever. Don't know what it is. They have that nice airy style, like Guardian, but there's a major difference in the guitar sound. Also AV don't stuff their music too full of any stuff, just keep it simple and rock away. Somehow I always thought Nightfall in Middle Earth having very much At Vance-like guitars, or the other way round actually. :P I don't know if I'm right or wrong really, just get that feeling.

I also need to tell you that my PowerWolf mention was a provocation. It's so cool to provoke Ragehead91. 8) I don't think I've never even heard their music, so I can't take anything away from them. At least, not yet anyway. >: D
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Ragehead91
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Re: At Vance

Post by Ragehead91 » Fri Sep 11, 2009 6:06 pm

About the Shiver thing:
Well, I guess that was more the fault of Rick Altzi. Altzi was in a band called "Shiver". This band wrote the song "Shiver" with a different Name. Then he left the band and jouned At Vance. I dunno who wrote the song "Shiver" so I can't say anything about that.

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