ULTIMATIUM – Virtuality

Finnish Power Prog Opera

Ultimatium is back with their 4th full length album Virtuality, an epic 72 minutes of musical story telling set in the world of virtual reality gaming. The new album features the band members Matti Pulkkinen on the keyboards, Harri Niskanen on guitars, Tomi Viiltola on lead vocals and Matti Auerkallio on drums and additional vocals. Add to the mix the 4 guest vocalists Emily Leone, Peter James Goodman, Jukka Nummi-Yucca and Petteri Gullsteen and you have an incredible lineup of musicians and singers here to tell a story from the future set to Power Metal.

Another World

The premise behind “Virtuality” is the storyline of four gamers getting stuck in a virtual reality game in a near-future setting. Each vocalist guest has their own, distinctive role in the story and drummer Matti Auerkallio sings the role of the villain (clean & crunch). The concept album is layered with lots of background vocals, sound effects and a “narrator”/system voice synthesized with Amazon’s Alexa. In total, 5 singers come together to tell a tale of the dangers of sharing to much info on social media, and how it could backfire in a future where VR has become the norm as players feel real pain in the VR game world.

Favorite Tracks

Virtuality comes packed with catchy riffs, clockwork drumming and anthemic vocal parts that all combine to bring us a well recorded and produced concept album. Standout tracks for this reviewer include the opener “Vengeance” and “Run Like The Wind” with it’s powerful vocal duet and snappy beat, add to that the sweet keyboard and guitar harmonies that bring the whole sound together. Other tracks that hit the mark include “The Seer” and “Scream” with it’s infectious back and forth between vocalists and tempo changes that take us from bouncy upbeat Rock to pure Speed Metal. To get the full effect of the story the band recommends that the listener take in the whole album in a sitting, taking you on a journey into their own virtual reality of musical story telling.

Final Notes

The new album introduces more Prog elements to the already solid core of Power Metal that the band is known for, giving listeners something different to sink their teeth into. The overall production is very well done, the performances are rock solid on all instruments and the vocals are like icing on an amazing Power Prog Metal cake. The snare drum sounds at times to be very mechanical and sampled, but as the story takes place in a virtual reality it seems to fit the concept. Overall, Virtuality offers a lot to enjoy for the fans of both Power Metal and Prog Metal alike. A solid addition to your music collection and at 72 minutes, a bargain worthy of addition to your collection.

Lineup

Matti Pulkkinen – Keyboards
Harri Niskanen – Guitars
Tomi Viiltola – Vocals
Matti Auerkallio – Drums, Vocals (additional)
Guest Vocalists – Emily Leone, Peter James Goodman, Jukka Nummi-Yucca and Petteri Gullsteen.

Virtuality – Tracklist

1. Vengeance
2. Run like the Wind
3. Hall of Heroes
4. Mind Captives
5. The Seer
6. Dark Cold Day
7. Remorse
8. (Don’t) Fear the Silence
9. Digital Tower
10. Ghost of Yesterday
11. Scream
12. Together