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It's been three years since Fabio Lione returned to Vision Divine, and while his comeback album 9 Degrees West Of The Moon paled when compared to the band's work with Michele Luppi, this new addition to their discography makes up for all past wrongs. Once again toying with the futuristic themes that dominated The Perfect Machine, Destination Set To Nowhere takes us on a journey to the end of the universe in search of a new home. Much heavier and more confident than their last disc, this is more of a straight-ahead Power Metal album with plenty of twists and turns. The progression is mainly evident in the swirling riffs, the frequent tempo changes, and the winding vocal lines. Fabio has certainly learned a thing or two from his stint as Kamelot frontman; his chest-beating vibrato is naturally a large part of his performance, but he also slips in the occasional moody reference to Roy Khan. Nowhere is this more obvious than in "Mermaids From Their Moons", a spinning cosmos of riffs and ideas that demonstrate just how good Fabio could've been in Kamelot.

Guitarist and band leader Olaf Thorsten pulls out all the stops, producing track after track of inventive, spacey Prog Metal that pushes the band forward but also gives a shout out to their best work. Ironically, this kicks off with the weakest track, "The Dream Maker", but it only suffers due to the strength of later material. "The Ark" has one of the best choruses the band have ever penned, while "The House Of The Angels" goes for an angry, almost Thrash-sounding attack. Elsewhere, "The Sin Is You" follows a more mid-paced, gothic template, "Message To Home" is an engrossing ballad, and the best track on the album, "The Lighthouse", flirts with the sound Labyrinth have built up over the years and surpasses it with a hook you won't soon forget.

Fabio might've missed out in Kamelot, but that didn't stop him making a storming album with Vision Divine. Fans of Progressive Power Metal need to get on this pronto, as it marks the first release of its kind to excel in 2012.