Veonity – Sorrows

Veonity
Sorrows
Scarlet Records
August 21, 2020
46:18

For 7 years the Swedes of Veonity propagared their power metal in the world. The surprising thing is that there have been no changes in the lineup since then. This is certainly not common. But it should be a prerequisite for continuous work. So far three albums have been released. There are also two single and one EP. Now it’s time again. In August, the fourth studio album “Sorrows” will be released. The songs were recorded in Studio Seven by Ronny Milianowicz (Shadowquest). Tony Lindgren (Powerwolf, Dragonforce) was responsible for the postprocessing in the Fascination Street Recording Studio. While the predecessor “Legend of the Starborn” was still a concept album, now only the themes of betrayal, grief and loneliness run as a thread through the songs.

In my opinion, the intro “Broken” is dispensable. The piano and string sounds are not suitable for the upcoming songs. But what comes next is power metal of the better kind, as you can hear on “Graced Or Damned”. What bothers me a bit are the keyboards, especially because there is no regular key player in the band. Anders Sköld’s voice has a high recognition value and dominate the songs. “Back In To The Dark” starts out as a power ballad. Later it becomes a hymn. For my taste you can hear the best vocal performance on the album. “Where Our Memories Used To Grow” features a guest appearance by Dragonsland singer Jonas Heidgert. This duet makes sure that this song is the strongest by far the album. Especially because here no keyboards paste up the sound. There are brilliant guitar solos for that. “Acceptance” is also a Metal cracker. And “Free Again” is almost Speed Metal, but remains very melodic at all high speeds. With “Center Of The Storm” Veonity then poach in Sabaton climes, with a little less bombast, however. This continues with “War”. Here also textual and vocal.

Scandinavian Power Metal at its best!

So, you can read the press release of the label. However, labels tend to exaggerate. So here too. Certainly “Sorrows” is a good album. But certainly not outstanding. Veonity cannot match the success of Sabaton, Hammerfall or Civil War. And musically they play it too safe. The Swedes use the usual Power Metal clichés to do this. Nevertheless, they should have consolidated their position in the Power Metal upper league of Scandinavia and worldwide with this album.

Veonity – Graced or Damned: https://youtu.be/NlIxWlu_5IA

Lineup:

Kristoffer Lidre – Bass
Joel Kollberg – Drums
Samuel Lundström – Guitars (lead)
Anders Sköld – Vocals (lead), Guitars

Track list:

• Broken
• Graced Or Damned
• Back In To The Dark
• Blinded Eyes Will See
• Where Our Memories Used To Grow
• Acceptance
• Free Again
• Center Of The Storm
• War
• Fear Of Being Alive