Venues – Transience (Arising Empire)
Wednesday, 27th March 2024
Venues’ second album, 2021’s Solace, saw the band implement a heavier sonic template that put them more in line with the modern metal groupings of acts like Deadlock or The Unguided. The type of sound that can push elegant melodic guitar work and punchy riffs into a blender with a dual vocal combination of screaming and singing. Transience follows up this successful reinvention by not playing things entirely safe. Venues is back, and have brought with them the same sonic intensity, but more emotional depth and some augmented genre-blending into something even more potent.
One of the things that really stands out strongest on Transience, maybe because many bands in this field don’t emphasize it as much, is the guitar melodies. Many modern metal acts rely more on the vocals to push the melodies, alongside trappings such as synths, but Venues comes out swinging with melodeath-levels of ear-catching melodies. Just the first two songs alone, “Godspeed, Goodbye” and “Haunted House” should provide ample evidence that despite the modern push, there’s plenty of fiery musicianship going on. Couple that with powerful riffing and being unafraid of pulling the trigger on some earned breakdowns (“Oblivion”) and you can further notice the more abrasive structure of the band in its base.
Layered on top of that base though, is where the modern elements and catchiness comes in. Even a more riff-forward song like “Cravings” is able to dip into some modern potential and make it into a spark. The scream/sung vocals done by Robin Baumann and Lela Gruber, respectively, successfully avoid sounding cliched and predictable, offering bits of heaviness and melody to enhance the music behind them. The melodies on a song like “Unspoken Words” have an eerie waltz to them at the start as Gruber winds around the music until it hits heavier territory. “Radiate Me” feels almost floaty at times, but knows exactly how and when to move into more visceral breakdowns and electronics. “Braille” acts as an early favorite with its punchy riffing and ability to absolutely soar when the chorus comes.
Venues continue to improve upon their formula into one that can truly bring heaviness and modern melody together without any sense of sacrifice on the part of either. Transience shows its fangs, but also augments itself with elements that will bring in outside fans to enjoy what the band has done in putting the pieces together. An underrated act that is well-worth getting to know.
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