About halfway through my first start-to-finish listen of Vanishing Point’s 2014 release at the midpoint of track 4, ‘When Truth Lies’, to be precise, I let down my guard, sat back, and just trusted the rest of the album to be as excellent as the opening songs. Sure enough, the remaining songs met my expectation, and repeat listens only enhanced my appreciation. It takes a monumental feat to shut down my reticence and skepticism. Thank you, Vanishing Point, for pulling off just such a task with this brilliant album.

Power Metal, Melodic Metal, Prog-Metal; whatever. The songs are consistently lofty, ambitious, sophisticated, and compelling, from the mid-tempo to the breakneck. The aggression comes across with more power than anger, more beauty than dissonance. While they’ve appropriately toured with acts like Yngwie Malmsteen, Gamma Ray, and Dragonforce, their closest counterpoints may be Symphony X. Silvio Massaro’s vocals ascend without soaring or diving into the gravel, frequently incorporating harmonies over the busy interlacing of the synths and guitars. My lone, minor complaint is with the level of the drums in the mix. What’s gained by the emphatic double-bass is some urgency and power, what’s lost is some of the intricacy and melody of the other instruments.

‘King of Empty Promises’, ‘Pillars of Sand’, ‘April’, and the title track have all already incorporated themselves into my day-to-day playlists, and can expect many repeat plays in the future. ‘Let the River Run’ and ‘Denied Deliverance’ flirt a little too closely with mainstream hard-rock commercialism for my comfort, but they’re still likable songs. There’s really not a bad moment anywhere on “Distant is The Sun.” The rest of the world needs to step up! Australia’s Vanishing Point have released 2014’s first contender for album of the year.