Last night, Visions of Atlantis, the crown jewel of pirate metal, laid down a gem of a show at Lovedraft’s in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

This Austrian band has been around since 2000 and has run through 20 different roster members and 3 touring players. Drummer Thomas Caser remains the only original member. They began as a folk-based, symphonic metal act in the spirit of Nightwish, Epica, Kamelot and Leaves Eyes, featuring a female mezzo-soprano lead vocalist teamed with a male lead. Usually the trope in this sublet style of metal music is the clean vocals are fielded by the female, hard growling by the male. Not so in the case of Visions of Atlantis, where both stationed are thrown operatic clean.

The band’s first female vocalist, Nicole Bogner, sang for five years before departing Visions of Atlantis and tragically dying in 2012. When I was still in the music industry, Visions of Atlantis’ 2007 album Trinity came across my desk and an interview slot with then-vocalist Melissa Ferlaak. What I remember of Melissa back then was she was a sweet person to chat with. I remember rating Trinity a solid eight of ten for whomever assigned it to me, but I never foresaw the juggernaut of catchy, keelhauling, symphonic power metal this band would later become.

In 2013, current female lead, Clémentine Delauney from France joined Visions of Atlantis and behind her in 2018, singer, composer, lyricist, multi-instrumentalist, sound-engineer and producer, Michele Guaitoli. The shift in ideology for Visions of Atlantis became a fantastical pirating motif (no doubt speared by the success of Alestorm and the scores of popular Viking metal bands) as showcased by the band’s spectacular current trio of albums, Wanderer, Pirates and Pirates II: Armada.

Cinematic in scope, Visions of Atlantis have found their heading, pun intended, on these bombastic and gorgeous voyages into what they liken to a “pirate party” when performing live, clad in vintage buccaneer garb you won’t score at your local Renfaire. A pirate party was exactly what we were treated to last night, with fans clad in pirate gear, hopping and jumping around the floor as Visions of Atlantis steamrolled all of us with relentless energy, culling their set from the aforementioned three albums. As epic in a live setting as their latest recordings. Even more so. Clémentine Delauney has become endeared to the metal scene, a darling of this brand of symphonic based escapism who put on as much as a show as her cohorts. The melancholy angel stole the limelight where appropriate, checking herself down as compliment to Michele, who is as stellar as his immediate peer, Roy Khan of Kamelot.

My cell pics could only work so much magic. I find myself longing for my old pro camera and the days I would be in the photo pit reeling off better shots than these, but they should be sufficient enough to convey what me and my old buddy, Mark, whom I haven’t seen in a light year bore witness to: A freaking incredible night of siren-filled cutlassing.

–Photos by Ray Van Horn, Jr.