Seemed like a good idea at the time - A review of Van Canto's Trust in Rust

Most people have been through a story like this. Imagine you are seventeen years old or so and you meet a girl you madly fall in love with. She is different from all the other girls which makes her completely unique. You get to know each other and can't help but soon get involved in a passionate relationship. You are convinced she is the love of your life. People around you aren't so sure. They claim she is still very young and that you're her first boyfriend. Some people say she is too different from you to be the perfect match. Others argue her behavior is at times erratic and that there are more beautiful women out there anyway. But you don't care and are fully invested in this relationship. In the beginning, you seem to be right and everyone else was seemingly wrong. Your relationship prospers, you spend wonderful moments together and the chemistry is wonderful. After a few years, there are first setbacks however. You encounter first serious problems She is too fragile to deal with them while you are much too emotional about them. You grow distant from each another and barely recognize each other anymore. You're almost about to break up but you don't want to give up after all those wonderful years spent side by side. You decide to give each other another chance and to make compromises. In the beginning, things seem to work out much better than before but soon old problems resurface and new ones appear at the horizon. You spend more time arguing with each other than appreciating each other's presence. Those who never believed in your relationship are suddenly back and remind you that your relationship was bound to fail sooner or later. Even new acquaintances suggest you to break up with her and she goes through the same process on her side. You refuse to make the first move but it is inevitable to separate. It's quite a nasty split and the first weeks are particularly difficult but in retrospect, you know it was the right decision and you start to see the split as an occasion to move on and try out new things you enjoy. You don't look back in anger or regret and are proud of your stamina to have kept such a relationship going for such a long period of time at a young age. But you are ready to break free and look for a better match as exciting times are ahead.

Why am I telling you this story? It's because it applies perfectly to Van Canto. The idea to combine heavy metal stylistics a cappella singing was quite courageous and unique when the band saw the light of day twelve years ago. Many critics and fans were skeptical and saw this genre combination as a mismatch. The band made the headlines however and took advantage of all the attention. The group played numerous festivals and the fans welcomed them with enthusiasm and were craving for rakkatakka versions of Metallica and rama-rama-ding-dong renditions of Manowar. The group also wrote its own songs which weren't all that bad but its shows reached their peaks when the group honored Iron Maiden or Nightwish as I could witness myself at a festival eleven years ago when the band had just started to become successful. The naysayers were quiet for a while, especially when the band hit the top twenty-five of the German charts on two occasions. The group earned some credibility when collaborating with famous heavy metal singers like Blind Guardian's Hansi Kürsch, Grave Digger's Chris Boltendahl and Sonata Arctica's Tony Kakko. However, after initial success and a quick rise to fame, the band failed to reinvent itself. The collaborations with famous singers declined. The original material failed to impress fans. The new cover songs weren't as surprising as the first attempts. The chart positions slowly pummeled. The male lead singer left the band.

The band then released Trust in Rust, with the album title being as boring and predictable than the actual song material. The band attempts to cover AC/DC and Helloween and fails miserably because it can't reproduce the atmosphere and spirit of the former or the ambition and pace of the latter. The original tracks often sound quite repetitive and the six singers' at time cacophonous performances are often headache-inducing. If compared to the band's first record released twelve years earlier, there is no evolution to be heard and one can rather speak of a regression. The group's concept was clever back then but feels worn-out these days. The big festivals aren't much interested in the group anymore either and the naysayers claiming that the group was bound to fail are back again while some of the early fans have completely forgotten about this once acclaimed group. One can't help but think that the band should have left on a high note in the beginning of the decade after four or five studio albums.

Sometimes, I happen to like a song on Trust in Rust such as the melancholic ''Neverland''. But even then, I can't help but think how great the song would sound if it were played by a proper symphonic power metal band. It would have more diversity and energy, sound more moving and organic and be overall quite efficient. Listening to eleven songs where six singers constantly chant instrumental and vocal passages accompanied by an isolated drummer is quite tiring, It's no better than listening to a series guitar solos for over fifty-one minutes. Only a few die-hard enthusiasts will have a great time while most people will either feel annoyed or bored if not both.

Van Canto had its reason to be and managed to add a breath of fresh air to the metal genre. The history books shall always remember the Germans as pioneers of a unique sub-genre called a cappella metal. But the days of glory have long passed. Instead of keeping things going, the band should pull the plug and the different members should look for alternatives. The bonus disc with orchestral songs shows how good some of the lead singers sound in a different context. Male lead singer Hagen Hirschmann could pursue his career with power metal band Logar's Diary. Female lead singer Inga Scharf would be a perfect fit for a young and hungry female-fronted symphonic metal band out there. Stefan Schmidt is already involved in the promising group Heavatar. It's time to try out something new. It's time to get a new girlfriend or to be single.

Final rating: 25%