Vena Sera

Each musician in trio is important

Chevelle gladden their fans not so often as one could wish. Nobody knows what is the reason, but this phenomenon may have its positive side too. Every new release gains its additional value because you know that you'll have to wait at least two years to hear next one. During the three years since their recent album This Type Of Thinking (Could Do Us In) was issued the lineup of this family metal trio has undergone slight changes. Chevelle's bass guitarist abandoned the band leaving his two brothers with the fact that Chevelle can't be the only heavy band composed of relatives no more. But luckily Loefler brothers had a person for substitution – their brother-in-law fit in with the band perfectly and helped them to save the band’s unique status. This brief soap opera digression wasn’t said for nothing. I guess everyone understand that the influence of every musician in trio is very strong and a replacement of one person may affect the musical result greatly. A new Chevelle's album recorded with a new bassist turned out to be that very case when a single person managed to change the way the band used to sound. And though Vena Sera is still very alike the band's previous works the album showed some necessary notes and expressiveness that lead Chevelle on a new level.   

Vena Sera Combines heavy riffs and calm, clean vocals

It is pretty hard to give more or less precise definition to the music that Chevelle play on Vena Sera. It is possible only to put the album into approximate stylistic boarders. Most likely it is a mixture of heavy alternative and new metal. There are piles of heavy guitars and rhythmic crunchy riffs supported by a solid rhythm section where bass parties play a fundamental role. It can by distinctly heard on Braniac – one of the best Chevelle's songs to date. The aggressive pulsation of bass gets mixed with guitar distortion making the overall sounding even heavier. It all sounds pretty interesting, as a similar balance of instruments is hard to find in modern heavy music. The vocalist prefers to sing in a clear voice, though he delivers different screams from time to time. For example Well Enough Alone opens with uncompromising yell a la Phil Anselmo but he performs a verse and chorus calmly and even a bit gentle at times. A song Safewaters sounds quite interesting in this respect. A delicate boarder between calm vocals and heavy, dark arrangement was observed really great.                 

Vena Sera strives to unconventional solutions

Overall Vena Sera turned out to be a sufficiently strong release. One can't say that Chevelle made something cardinally new but this album contains all signs of band's development. Their sounding became more diverse and even unique what makes Chevelle a more recognizable band. A contribution of a new bass player has influenced not only the way rhythm section works but the album's material in general. It is worth praising a production work too. In terms of sound Vena Sera strives to unconventional solutions in the boarders of band's generated stylistic. A balance of all instruments and vocals was set just perfectly and the unbelievable energy of bass guitar makes you think that many modern heavy bands use the potential of this instrument at least incompletely. Well, of course, there are disadvantages here too. The album has a great sound but Chevelle sometimes make it useless when they play old and mediocre themes, this can't let some potentially good songs join Chevelle's hit asset. This actually doesn't mean that the album is boring or bad; Vena Sera simply won't let Chevelle get much higher. First of all this album will be interesting for the band's old fans, however, if you are still unfamiliar with Chevelle than Vena Sera is probably the best release to understand who these musicians are.