Visions of Atlantis, Seraina Telli, WarTroll
- Bleeding Priest
- Apr 22
- 6 min read
April 18, 2025
DNA Lounge
San Francisco, CA
Pirate Metal night at the DNA! Honestly, this is a scene I don’t follow too closely and always thought it was a tad silly and I still may think that but HOLY HELL did Visions Of Atlantis impress the living shit out of me.
Before we get to that I gotta say how stoked I was to see the Tempest machine plugged in. Upstairs at The DNA they have two (maybe) three classic arcade games. One being the original Star Wars stand up “trench run” game which will always be a classic in early Vektor graphics and one of the greatest SW video games ever. The other being my favorite arcade game of all time TEMPEST. Whenever I see one out in the wilds I have to play it.
There’s been versions to come out on pc and even consoles. Sure they nail the graphics and sounds but without the dial controller it will never compare to the stand up arcade version. The artwork on the display case is iconic as well. Anyways, these games are NEVER plugged in for whatever reason but tonight Tempest was. I made change and played my 8 year old heart out. I made it to the “V” stage which is just ok. Now to the show…
Actually, before I get to that I’ve got to discuss Visions Of Atlantis’s meet n’ greet. Talk about a band going above and beyond for their fans. With meet and greets most bands just offer an exclusive piece of merch, take a few pics, sign a few things and that’s it. Maybe let the fans watch a soundcheck. This band treated their fans to an intimate performance of a handful of songs performed on the dance floor. The two vocalists would talk to the fans between tunes and discuss the songs. The male vocalist played a keyboard while the rest of the band sat behind the duo playing various hand percussion and stringed instruments.
You can get an idea from my blurry photo. About that photo. I tried to sneak in a quick shot while the female singer was telling the crowd “no pictures please”. The male singer spotted me right away and called me out. The whole room looked at me. I politely put my phone away and watched the performance. He actually apologized later and all was good. The whole thing sounded very, well, pirate-y. For lack of a better word their meet and greet was neat. I’ve never seen a band do something like this for their fans. They earn major brownie points for treating their audience so well.
Now the show. First up was WarTroll. I’m not sure where they hail from (Mordor) but I’m fairly certain they’re local. This was my first time seeing them and they ruled. I’m always a sucker for bands with a theme, theatrics, and a look beyond t-shirt and jeans. KISS is my favorite band so that should give you an indicator. But these dudes and lady actually have rocking tunes. Their sound is an amalgam of Death Metal, Celtic Metal and maybe a touch Symphonic Metal. Very solid drumming backed the whole thing which is always half the battle. A Metal band is as good as it’s drummer and WarTroll have a good one. I was way into it.
You know what I was not into? THE NEXT FUCKING “BAND”. And I use the word band figuratively because in my mind they should never be considered a band.
This duo are named after lead singer, sometimes guitarist Seraina Telli, who is the former vocalist for Burning Witches. A band l like very much and I have their first record with her singing on it. It’s great. Her new thing is a far cry from her previous work and has absolutely NOTHING in common with Burning Witches. They’re comprised of a drummer and her on vox and as I said earlier sometimes guitar. I knew something was up when I saw the drummer’s kit.
Years ago I was at a NAMM show and somewhere on the floor there was this God ugly drum set on display. It was the goofiest fucking thing I’d ever seen. Every single drum was a different bright color. A blue kick drum, a yellow rack tom, a pink floor tom. It looked like something you’d see in the circus. It turned out to be the drummer for No Doubt’s kit. It completely makes sense. The drummer in Seraina’s thing had the same kit. Doesn’t make sense…wait….maybe it does.
Their sound actually had a lot of Pop Punk leanings. She can sing her ass off without question. And the drummer clearly had talent. My biggest beef with their set, and it’s a legitimate one was the obvious use of backing tracks. I guess I should commend them for not trying to hide it but jeesus they took it to a whole new level. They played to a pre-recorded bass track. Deja-vu! But they took it one step further.
On one song she took her guitar off and just sang while guitar was still piping through the PA. Which means the only things happening live were drums and vocals. This is fucking unacceptable. That type of stuff is commonplace in the world of pop but should NEVER be accepted in the world of Rock/Metal without exception. Metal lives and dies by the live performance. They had their fans though and in fact they seemed go crazy when she took her guitar off and just sang so what the fuck do I know. These are strange times.
Now we have the headliner, Visions Of Atlantis. Simply put, these Austrians blew me the fuck away. Like I said above Pirate Metal really ain’t my thing but like my buddy Ken said, “it’s really hard to hate these guys”. They put on a concert, not a show. What’s the difference?
A show is going to check out your buddies jam or a local band where if they use a smoke machine that’s considered “production”. A concert is when a band puts some money and effort into its live presentation, be it lighting, staging, props, costumes, audience participation and Visions Of Atlantis check all the boxes.
I’m not lying when I say I was swept up into the whole nautical theme. They truly take their audience on a swashbuckling adventure.. The stage looked like the bridge of a pirate ship. Again, I’m a sucker for stuff like this and respect any band that puts the amount of effort Visions Of Atlantis does. I can see how being a fan of these guys can be such a fun thing.
Speaking of the fans they go all out. Dressed to the nines in their best Ahab gear all donning plastic curved swords. The male singer even got the audience to row in unison. The whole experience was a real great time. But here’s the thing, Visions Of Atlantis are not a band that’s all flash and no substance. These motherfuckers can write an inspiring tune if I’ve ever heard one.
And they’re no slouches on their respective instruments either. Female vocalist Clementine Delaunay is one hell of a singer. She truly has some powerful pipes and is a pleasure to watch. There were some serious gypsy grooves going on at times and she knows how to cut a rug. Even their walk off music was triumphant as all hell. In fact it reminded me of the music you’d hear during the end credits of a Bruce Willis film or getting off a ride at Disney. It was a total immersive experience that I won’t soon forget.
–Bleeding Priest
