With This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In), Chevelle instantly cemented themselves as heavyweights in the hard-rock/nü-metal scene. The album was a fusion of polished songwriting, raw emotion and heavy musical sections that had no obvious parallel among its peers. And so, oddly, I began to worry about the band's subsequent effort, thinking that they may have easily peaked, not to mention the departure of bassist Joe Loeffler (a founding member, and brother of vocalist Pete and drummer Sam). Well, I was partly right, as the band's fourth album, Vena Sera, is a clear step downward, but it's still among the top releases of 2007 to date.
The album kicks open with "Antisaint," a slow, heavy and aggressive tune lashing out at religious hypocrisy. The track's verses are grinding, bass-driven and slower, while the choruses are trademark Chevelle with crunchy guitars supporting Pete Loeffler's soaring melodies. Curiously absent from the track (and most of the album) is Loeffler's scream, leaving the tracks in a more melodic territory throughout the disc. Also noticeable right away is that the band has left behind the polish of their previous two outings, opting instead for a grittier sound, devoid of studio trickery. This serves the band well at times, but also takes some adjustment from what fans are accustomed to.
Neither production nor lack of screaming is a detriment to "Straight Jacket Fashion," which will doubtless go down as one of the year's top rock songs. Driven by a punk-lile snare-tap drumbeat, and oscillating rapidly between multiple speeds and volumes, the track is riveting from start to finish, most poignantly in mid-chorus, when the fast beat kicks in as Loeffler cries out "Quietly / You're overrated anyhow / And currently / You've spread yourself so thin!"
There are plenty of other strong moments as well, from the aggressive and insightful "The Fad" (though the vocals take some getting used to), to the absolutely furious lyricism of "Humanoid," to the snappy, driving "Brainiac." Apart from the above-mentioned "Straight Jacket Fashion," few of these tracks are as skillful or captivating as the average track from the band's last disc, but the rule on this album is still well-crafted hard rock that has ample replay value.
Only at a few points, mostly near the disc's closing, does the band really mail it in, which is disappointing after a strong opening to this disc and an established quality track record for most of their career. The worst culprit here is "Saturdays," which actually serves as the closing track for the standard-issue disc (versions bought from Best Buy or iTunes have interesting bonus tracks afterward, thankfully). Other tracks, such as "Saferwaters" and "Paint the Seconds," are a bit less bland, but still fall short of the band's known standard of quality, and are likely to have the listener shrugging indifferently after a few listens.
All in all, this disc probably slots somewhere right near Wonder What's Next in terms of overall quality, which is hardly a horrible place to be, even if it is a slight step down for the band. Established Chevelle fans will not be disappointed with this outing, and those who tend to like their rock a bit less aggressive than the band's previous outing may even find this one to be more palatable. Overall, this a quality outing, and most rock fans could do much worse looking through 2007's crop.
Vena Sera is Chevelle s catchiest, heaviest, most dynamic and expressive album to date. Filled with an array of sonic styles and tempos, colored by pe...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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