Track Listing

All I Never Wanted
Hear Me
Breathe In Water
Better
Taken
Superman
Island
Remember (I.O.U.)
Real Life Fairytale
Far Enough
Shattered Life
Go

Line Up

Gisa Vatcky - Vocals
John Macaluso - Drums
Mordechai Hauser - Guitars
Jamei Terano - Keyboards
Fabrizio Grossi - Bass

Indigo Dying is a studio project put together by Frontiers to showcase the considerable vocal talent of Gisa Vatcky. Around Vatcky a good quality "band" has also been assembled to provide the musical backdrop, bringing together John Macaluso (drums), Mordechai "Mordy" Hauser (guitars), Jamie Terano (keyboard) and Fontiers’ own Fabrizio Grossi on bass. In addition to this, Tommy Denander guests on guitars and there are duets with both ex-Helloween man Michael Kiske and Mark Boals of Malmsteen and Ring Of Fire fame.

The songs have been picked especially to suit Vatcky’s voice and in the opening couple of tracks, "All I Never Wanted" and "Hear Me" they have really hit the nail squarely on the head. Both are great songs and perfectly suit the diverse yet totally quality vocal style of Vatcky. At times her voice reminds me of Amy Lee from Evanescence, whilst more often there are definite echoes of Alanis Morrissette. One thing is for sure though, Vatcky has a superb, powerful yet melodic voice and when you couple that the fact that the songs are way above the average for this type of project release, then what you have is a very fine debut outing from Gisa Vatcky.

This should not come as much of a surprise to anyone who has read her impressive CV, which states that she has worked with the likes of Andrea Bocelli, Enrique Iglesias, Placido Domindo, Melissa Etheridge and Meat Loaf amongst others...you simply don’t get those type of gigs unless you are a bit special and just one spin through this CD confirms that to be the case.

In total there are 12 tracks and the quality is very much maintained all the way through. The duet with Michael Kiske is a haunting track that builds from a slow start into a much more rocky affair, as do both of the songs which feature the tremendous vocal input of the much missed Mark Boals. It is nice to see him back and singing as well as ever on both this release and the new Codex album. On all three tracks, Vatcky more than holds her own in terms of quality of performance.

Vatcky certainly does not need collaborative songs in order to deliver the goods, however and from the slower introductory verses to many of the songs through to the rousing and full-on rock choruses, she has an eminently listenable and classy delivery.

I’m not usually a fan of female vocalists, who I often find are rather inexplicably let down by poor material, but this is a definite exception. The songs are high quality and fit Vatcky to perfection. It is a strong album which I have no doubt Frontiers will be eager to build upon in the future.

Overall, another quality release to add to 2007’s incredible output of high class offerings. If female vocals are your thing, then this is the best example I’ve heard this year, alongside the Robin Beck album. The strength of the material is also such that it may well convert many, like me, that would not ordinarily go for this sort of thing.