VANISHING POINT have never operated on anyone's schedule but their own. Six years after "Dead Elysium" ended one long absence, the Melbourne melodic metal band have announced their seventh studio album, "Eremition", for worldwide release on November 20, and released its first single, "Bring Me The Night", with a video.
"'Bring Me The Night' is about not letting other people's negative emotions and actions steer your direction in life," says guitarist Chris Porcianko. "It's high energy, heavy and very melodic, with a big '80s AOR influence, all presented in the characteristic VANISHING POINT style."
On the gaps between records — and there have been several — Porcianko is entirely unapologetic. "For us as a band, it's always been quality over quantity. When the quality is there, that's when it's the right time to put it out into the world. We feel we owe it to ourselves and to our fans everywhere to bring something truly special to light, something that sits perfectly within the long legacy that VANISHING POINT has."
The album's subject matter runs heavier than its choruses might suggest. "'Eremition' is in many ways an album about loss, gain, realization, understanding, letting go and moving forward without holding onto the negative energies that sometimes complicate our lives," Porcianko says. "We hope that these songs bring a little solace and connection to all our incredible fans out there."
VANISHING POINT formed in Melbourne in the mid-1990s and debuted with "In Thought" in 1997. The catalogue that followed — "Tangled In Dream", "Embrace The Silence", "The Fourth Season", "Distant Is The Sun", "Dead Elysium" — travelled a great deal further than most Australian metal of its era: huge melodies, soaring vocals, cinematic keyboard work and an emotional register the band has never been embarrassed by.
It carried them out of the country, too. They have toured Europe and Japan, played the United States, and shared stages with IRON MAIDEN, NIGHTWISH, HELLOWEEN, GAMMA RAY, DRAGONFORCE, Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani. They were also the first unsigned Australian band to perform at Wacken Open Air — years before Australian heavy music had anything like the international profile it enjoys today.
Six albums across roughly three decades is not a work rate. It is a policy, and one the band have stuck to at obvious commercial cost. The counter-argument is that the audience is still there when they come back, which is more than can be said for a lot of acts who never stopped releasing records.
"Eremition" is out worldwide on November 20. Watch the video for "Bring Me The Night" below.