Review: Vidi Aquam – 'Fog Vision'

VIDI AQUAM
'Fog Vision'
SELF-RELEASED 

Apparently nineteen years in to their musical career and four years after the positively received 'The World Dies' in 2010, Vidi Aquam's latest opus features everything that will guarantee the loyalty of their Euro-goth fanbase but will register a musical-quagmire for everybody whom has a functioning set of ears.

Emerging in to the dark and dingy, reverb-heavy world in 1994, this Milan-based trio have gathered momentum in the last couple of years in part from sharing tour-bills of bigger names from the scene and have also been given a name drop or two in musical-literature.

Featuring a sound palette that consists of archaic, analogue synthesisers, treble-heavy basslines and deeply mixed, echoing vocal-wails, 'Fog Vision' is an undeniable hat-tip to the to the forefathers of now modern goth but unfortunately just comes across with utter pretension. A number of tracks blend seamlessly in to each other, such as album opener 'The Puppets Show' through to title track 'Fog Vision' which comes complete with a lack of totally unoriginal hooks which does nothing cause wonder as to why you haven't indulged the skip button. However, serving as unintentional restbite from the monotony, the surprising airy, rock-driven 'She Says and Does Not Say' seems to be the diamond in this particular rough but soon ushers in another chain of clippy, un-produced Euro-bilge that deserves no real concentration.

In this day and age, there is just no excuse for horrid production and the quicker Vidi Aquam realise this, the better it will be for everybody. For all the downfalls, there are promising glimmers of hope dotted around this full-length that get drowned out by the surrounding mulch. There is an exciting world out there that is stuffed to the brim with possibilities, Vidi Aquam would not be ill-advised to take advantage of it.

Posted in: fog vision,music,vidi aquam