Vantage Point hail from Edinburgh. Towards the end of 2020 the band got in touch asking if I’d review their Demonic Dinner Dance II album. You can read that review here. It’s very, very good.
Anyhoo – guitarist James Mitchell emailed me a few days ago to ask if I’d review their latest offering Alternative View. The blurb he sent with the CD says that: “guest vocalists handle seven of the nine tracks resulting in a different dynamic than on previous albums……offers the opportunity to return to the original version of the song and compare how much a vocalist can change a piece of music and produce a completely different song out of it”. Interesting eh?
Remarkably for a band with as much to offer as Vantage Point they are unsigned by a label though are a busy band putting out plenty of stuff independently via their Bandcamp page.
Alternative View certainly delivers. Generally short (circa three and a half minutes or so) fastish paced punchy rockers which hit hard. Big monster riffs, thunderous bass lines and Liam Kane shreds for Scotland. They even chuck in some good old Hammond organ here and there.
24 Hours of Freedom delivers the first knockout blow featuring the usual powerful vocals from guest Blaze Bayley and a super Hammond solo from Derek Sherinian.
Tutankhamun next up with a “groovy” bass, more Liam Kane guitar histrionics and nicely paced vocals form Caroline Connell. Have a listen to it:
Just When I Wasn’t Looking has a catchy melody and hook with the jaunty riff. Songs such as The List, Once Upon a Time and The Prize all hit hard being well constructed rockers powerfully delivered and performed adeptly.
To mix it up a bit there’s a chunky instrumental in Sands of Time.
Vantage Point certainly know how to write enjoyable, thumping, punchy rockers. Get yourself over to their Bandcamp page to check out Alternative View and the rest of their stuff. Plenty there and reasonably priced too:
https://vantagepointrocks.bandcamp.com/music