Once a side project for ex-LABYRINTH guitarist Olaf Thorsen and RHAPSODY singer Fabio Leone, VISION DIVINE has returned with its third album, Stream Of Consciousness, and a new vocalist. In a conversation with BW&BK, Thorsen explained why Leone was forced to bow out.

"For the first two albums Fabio always gave 100% to Vision Divine, but because I left Labyrinth and decided to focus on Vision Divine I wanted to create an image of a real band. I don't think this would have been a problem for Fabio, but Rhapsody recently signed with new management and he didn't take care that there would be room for a career with Vision Divine at the same time. He told me everything was fine, but when I saw the contract there was nothing mentioning Vision Divine, and I figured it might cause some major problems in the future. It's a sad thing, but the best thing to do was to have Fabio leave, in the interest of both bands and our friendship."

Leone has been replaced by Michele Luppi, who has worked previously as an Italian pop rock session player. According to Thorsen, Vision Divine is Luppi's first metal experience


[thanx to Brave Words and Bloody Knuckles]