Frontiers Music [Release date 12.06.26]

Some 30 years after the band’s Accult album, Vanden Plas follow through with their long promised second all acoustic effort.

Stating the obvious perhaps, but the real test of a band is its ability to create a quality album without powered up instruments.

VP succeed, mainly because of 1. Their very distinctive sound. 2. their spine tingling command of orchestral pace and colour, even when there’s no orchestra, and 3. The fact that the Lill brothers, Stephan (g) and Andreas (d), along with vocalist Andy Kuntz, have been together since the beginning.

They have a strong, arguably unbreakable emotional connection … It’s a factor that separates themselves from other bands.

And still, guest keyboard player, Alessandro DelVecchio fits right in. His piano playing is amazingly restrained. It comes in on the 2 minute mark of opening track, ‘Far From Grace’, from the band’s 1999 album of the same name, and carries the second half of the track’s 7 minutes.

The album consists of 6 VP songs and 2 covers, Metallica’s ‘Nothing Else Matters’ and ‘Boat On The River’, the Styx song, already known for its acoustic instrumentation.

Acoustic versions of heavy metal songs are often interesting but seldom succeed. ‘Nothing Else Matters’ is more an exercise in musicality than anything else. ‘Boat On The River’ works well, probably because of its origins as much as its simple but elegant structure.

This version of the ‘Ghost Experiment’ leans heavily on the original’s celtic rhythms and it works a treat. Let’s face it, VP’s songcraft usually creates a pretty robust construction.

‘The Healing Tree’s hauntingly ethereal score, yet again underpinned by Del Vecchio’s piano play, doesn’t burst into life in the manner of the original, but rather develops into a sophisticated and elaborate duet (with an unnamed female vocalist…although AI tells me it’s either Del Vecchio’s high pitch, or Kuntz’s truly remarkable vocal range that allows him to duet with himself).

Either way, they’ve created a graceful version of a great song.

Elsewhere, ‘Postcard To God’ and ‘You Fly’ move the music along with an athletes speed and grace. Two more tracks that demonstrate the band’s skillset and little reverence for the boundaries. ****1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 25 May 2026

BABY JANE Midnight Highway (Sped Up) (indie)
ASTRAL ROCKS The Flame In Me (Astral Rocks Prodns.)
INDIGO SYNDICATE dwn4smr (indie)
THE SKBS The Prying Eye (indie)
AGAINST THE CURRENT Dead Man Walking (indie)
ICONIC Tears Keep On Falling (Frontiers)

Featured Albums w/c 25 May 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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