VISIONS FUGITIVES

Mekong Delta's Visions Fugitives suffers for being dominated by the Suite for Group and Orchestra. Mashing up metal and orchestral work isn't exactly new - Deep Purple Mark I tried it, for instance - and it's an exercise that's often full of pitfalls. Here, the effect is rather ruined by the cheap-sounding synthesised orchestra utilised, and by the fact that the band don't really blend their music and the orchestra's performance in an especially interesting or novel way. Although some may (unaccountably) find this tedious affair to their taste, I have to give the album a rating consistent with my own reaction to it - and keeping in mind the fact that there will be plenty of other listeners who, like me, find this epic to be downright boring.