Van Canto released their first album, A Storm to Come, in 2006, which was followed by their sophomore effort, Hero, in 2008. All this time they’ve been making a name for themselves in the world of metal, opening for bands like Manowar and playing the main stage at Wacken. In October 2009, they cemented their place in the female-fronted metal scene after playing at the Metal Female Voices Fest in Belgium, and at the end of February 2011, they released their third longplayer, Tribe of Force.

Van Canto are no one-trick pony that gets old after a few awesome songs. No, they’re just like any good metal band, except they use their voices instead of instruments. Two vocalists, one male and one female, carry the melody while three others back it up by replicating the sound of the guitars and bass. They also include a drummer to give themselves a bit of flexibility.

Unlike Hero, which was made up of equal parts covers and original songs, Tribe of Force is composed of mostly original tracks and features only two covers: Grave Digger’s "Rebellion", featuring Grave Digger’s own frontman Chris Boltendahl, and Metallica’s "Master of Puppets". The original compositions are equally as interesting though, with songs like "Lost Forever" and "One to Ten (featuring Victor Smolski of Rage) sticking in your head. What really impresses me is the raw power the band creates with their voices, coming across particularly strongly in songs like "Hearted" (featuring Sonata Arctica’s Tony Kakko), "Water. Fire. Heaven. Earth", "The Tribe of Force", and "My Voice". In many songs they’re just as loud and powerful and any regular metal band. Dennis "Sly" Schunke has the lungs of any of the Metal’s great frontmen, and I think he could’ve fronted any band he chose with equal success. On the other side of the vocal spectrum, Inga Scharf sings in a higher pitched operatic style, really showing off her range in "Lost Forever" and "Last Night of the Kings". The two contrast nicely with each other (and with the backing "instruments"), not quite in a typical Beauty and the Beast style but in an effective way nonetheless. The other three vocalists and the drummer just put their all into it and provide an impenetrable bedrock to the songs like you’ve never heard before. Oh, and did I mention the "guitar" solos? I wasn’t aware that the human vocal cords could produce such a sound!

While their cover of "Master of Puppets" isn’t particularly successful, this new version of Grave Digger’s "Rebellion" certainly deserves its own paragraph. It may just be a great song from the beginning, but Van Canto’s a capella version certainly adds another layer of interest to it. The arrangement is great and the song just seems a lot more genuine. Featuring Grave Digger’s own frontman just makes it the most epic piece on the whole album. Rarely do I hear a song so full of, for lack of a better word, pure awesomeness.

Van Canto is quite a gem to stumble upon. Unique in more than one way, these musicians put their hearts, their souls, and their vocal cords into the songs like few others. Again, I wasn’t particularly impressed with the "Master of Puppets" cover, but Tribe of Force is a great album with few other flaws. Hopefully this band will keep growing, playing shows, and gaining fans. They certainly deserve it!

Standout tracks include "Lost Forever", "To Sing a Metal Song", "My Voice", "Rebellion", "Hearted", and "Frodo’s Dream".

8.5 / 10