The band’s uniqueness can be described in two simple words: a cappella.

Yes, Van Canto is an a cappella metal band. Now, many may think that this is, in fact, cool, but wouldn’t believe that it is particularly good. On the contrary, one may fall in love at hearing the first song! Van Canto puts a unique twist on the metal we’ve all come to know and love, and does it well. Very well.

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of a cappella, it’s basically when one replaces the instruments with voices, that, in the case of Van Canto, replicate the traditional electric guitars, bass, and other instruments, along with the two main vocalists. The only real instrument used in Van Canto’s music are the drums, which give the music more power and the band some more flexibility.

The line up is as follows: Dennis P. Schunke and Inga Scharf provide the lead vocals while Ross Thompson, Stefan Schmidt, Ingo Sterzinger, and Bastian Emig provide the background vocal and instrumental parts.

All the members of the band are superb at what they do. The leads are great, with Dennis’s vocals being very much in the classic metal style, and Inga bringing in the angelic, sometimes operatic vocals. The rest might as well be instruments themselves for the job they do of replicating them.

The album under review here is actually the band’s second release. The tracks are split, half being covers and half being original songs. All the songs are great, but some stand out among the rest.

Speed of Light, the opening track, is probably one of the best songs on the album. Very upbeat, and starting out powerful, with the "instruments" coming in, followed by Inga and Dennis’s strong vocals. Kings of Metal (Manowar cover that’s basically a song about just how awesome Manowar is), is another great song, and a killer cover of the original.

My personal favorite is, not surprisingly (for me anyway), the band’s cover of Nightwish’s renowned Wishmaster. Inga’s no Tarja, of course, but that’s almost irrelevant when you see the way this song is made into an a cappella version. "Instrumentally", it’s even better than the original in my opinion (forgive me Tuomas!). They even manage to do a great version of the guitar solo. The things these guys can do with their voices are, to me, unbelievable. Other highlights of this album include Quest for Roa, Stormbringer (Deep Purple cover), and the title track, Hero.

Van Canto is a band like none other. They’re not just another metal band, but one that puts a unique twist on the genre. Hero is an album with a lot of variety, exploring everything from classic metal songs to music that would fall under the symphonic or power metal categories. These guys really brought me some hope, not only from the bleakness and misery of my Passover, but from the cliché that a lot of bands in this genre have created by doing something original, and just plain awesome.