Vena Sera by Chevelle (CD, Apr-2007, Epic USA)

I have all of Chevelle's CD's.. and to be honest, I am not really suprised that this new CD "Vena Sera" is a dissapointment. The previous CD, "This Type of Thinking" was a gigantic drop off from their absolute best cd "Wonder What's Next"

If you are unfamiliar with Chevelle.. basically figure that it is some of the heaviest and strongest guitar/drum/bass combinations you will ever find. Nothing makes you want to bang your head more than a good ol "Dont Fake This" track. The lyrics move back and forth during songs between easy-going/casual singing.. and then hurls into a good gut-wrenching "Yell-Talk" Make no mistake, no other singer is in need of some soothing Vicks cloroseptic spray after a performance than this guy is.

When it comes to bass, Chevelle will really push your subs to the limit. I had a Kicker L7 that is a BEAST sub, and honestly had to wonder if it could handle the deepest of deep lows in "Comfortable Liar"

Now back to this bands spiraling downfall-- the prior cd was not a step forward. It was basically the band treading water. "Vitamin R" was a radio worthy track, and it got most of the attention on the album, and was good enough to justify purchasing it to hear the other tracks. After buying, you quickly realized that the "other" tracks were just that, "other crap". Whereas on "Wonder What's Next", all of the tracks were hits.. every single one.. kind of like Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory album.

With Vena Sera, you have 1 song on the radio that DOES NOT make me want to run out and get the album.. this tells me that Chevelle doesn't even comprehend what people like about their music. They put out a mediocre song on the radio that has poor lyrics, and a beat/rythm very un-Chevelle like.

Despite this, I decided to test out the entire album on aolmusic. THe first track on the CD, "Antisaint" is a GREAT track. This is what Chevelle is supposed to sound like. Instantly, you are thinking, MAN I HOPE THE REST OF THE CD CAN BANG THIS HARD.. but you are left empty handed after antisaint.

The next best track is "Humanoid".. but again, it is a distand 2nd place to antisaint.. and would not make the cut on the Wonder What's Next cd. The track "I Get It" reminds me of Night at the Roxbury for some reason.. which kind of ruins it because this song had a little bit of potential..

"Midnight to Midnight" is just plain OK. Doesn't make or break the cd, but is what I call one of the "neutral" tracks.. not dissapointing, but not a track I would play over and over again like antistaint.

Overall, this cd is not worth your money. Just download the 2 tracks antisaint and humanoid. I use sony's LEGAL website connect.com. The rest of the cd is just flat out a waste. Very dissapointed. The good news is that this sour taste in my mouth will soon be gone when LP's new cd comes out in a month...

chevelle has good, clear vocals with a hard rock sound. I am looking forward to their next album. They have been hard to find in my local music store.

This album rocks. If you were a fan of Chevelle's previous release 'wonder whats next', then this album is sure not to disappoint. It literally rocks from begining to end, sometimes a diffacult maneveur this day and age: finding a complete album that rocks the whole way thru without waning your interest. do yourself a favor, pick this one up.

The entire CD is just killer-------plain & simple!! This band is getting better and better with age. Hard to believe such great sound comes from a 3-man band.

I love this CD. It's as good or better than Wonder What's Next. I don't know where people get that this new album doesn't have the distinct Chevelle sound, because it sure does. Excellent lyrics, awesome guitar, bass, and drums as usual. The tracks Midnight to Midnight, Humanoid, Antisaint, and possibly my favorite Chevelle song, Straight Jacket Fashion (Heck I might as well throw in the rest of the album) are super great. If you like Chevelle any, buy it.

I have been a Chevelle fans since their 2nd album. I still remember the first song I listened to... "Closure". I wasn't totally impressed with them at the beginning, really, but I wanted to know more about them....

Years have passed, and I have been totally influenced by their sound. There aren't too many bands out there that are as original sound-wise as Chevelle. This, in fact, has led them to their incredible success among other things they have done to get to where they are now.

Vena Sera is a great CD. Not a master piece, but a great CD. I have read reviews saying that they don't sound like Chevelle, but for those who don't want to get their already established sound out of their heads, must understand that music is constantly changing, and I believe that once you as a band can create "different" music every time a CD is released, then you can certainly know that those are true musicians (Like Silverchair from Australia). Especially when it sounds as good as Vena Sera!

I would say that I liked the slight change. They don't sound different at all. Is a more melodic sound, more effects, still with the Chevelle seal on it!

kRemtronicz