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The core members of Pergana hail from Paraguay, but they attracted the attention of Alex and Oliver Holzwarth and the brothers from Germany have contributed drums and bass to each of the band's releases thus far. 2015's The Visit is Pergana's second EP and follows in the footsteps of Symphonic/Gothic bands like Epica, Delain, Coronatus and others. There's a good balance between the keyboards and guitars and the vocals are well done if a bit understated for this style. The opening track, "Return to Innocence," jumped out at me right away with a great riff and memorable chorus. "The Visit" is decent but sounds a lot like "Return to Innocence" so I'm not sold on Pergana's songwriting. "The Whisper" is an acoustic ballad that doesn't hurt The Visit, but doesn't really excite and the EP closes with "Redemption" a track that combines the styles of the other songs.

I can't say there is anything here that Symphonic/Gothic Metal fans haven't already heard and Pergana are going to need to show more diversity with their compositions if they want to reach more ears, but they do have their act together from a performance standpoint. I'll be watching for their next release.