Artist: Vengeance
Label: Metal Heaven
Release: 2009
Duration: 45:47
Rating: 3.5/5
Vengeance, a 27-year-old hard rock band from the Netherlands, is back after three years with “Soul Collector”, the follow-up to its warmly received predecessor “Back In The Ring” (2006). In the meantime the band has grown into a quintet. The guys added a second guitarist, Tim Somers, and there’s been a change behind the kit too, where Erik Stout now keeps the drum stool warm. The band’s basic goal remains unshakable: stay as loud and in-your-face as humanly possible. Two guitars are always better than one for that. Especially once you hit the stage! And as far as live shows go, Vengeance are generally one of the best bands in Europe.
On “Soul Collector” the guys remain passionate rock n’ roll lumberjacks, and once again the sawdust flies uncontrollably in every direction as they chop away at their guitars. Vengeance are old foxes, seasoned pros who know how to put the energy of a guitar pattern (the rock riff) front and center in a convincing way. No calculating. When the idea for the basic guitar riff pops out of the head and into the open, it’s quickly dressed up to the point where it grows into a song with a simple but convincing language of real rock n’ roll extravagance.
“Soul Collector” is a typical Vengeance record too. Raw European hard rock sound, with a lively production weave of venomously doubled and spotlighted guitar riff mangling, balanced by a booming, thick bass line and jolting drum pounding. Right in the middle of it all sits the authoritative and distinctive, throaty vocal of Leon Goewie, which gives Vengeance that much-needed stamp of recognizability (in a sea of similar bands).
Whatever you make of the fact that this is essentially a continuation of the legacy of “Back In The Ring” (2006), it’s worth noting that “Soul Collector” is a different Vengeance record. It has more variety (from song to song). The guys once again offer 11 new songs, but they aren’t all rock n’ roll wrecking balls. You can also enjoy a bit more deliberately placed epic feel in anthemic melodies, found for instance in the title track or in Samurai, with its purposely woven-in oriental melodic twists that help build a dramatic atmosphere in the songs. The listener runs into the same feelings right at the opening of the record with Cross In The Rain (what a fitting title), where the album surges dynamically in an instant. In Cross In The Rain, pay attention to the fluid interplay between the chopped-off, direct basic riff motif, the acoustic passage that effortlessly conjures up a rainy mood, and the anthemic chorus melody.
Simple solos are woven into the instrumental middle sections as a rule, and they don’t break the basic cohesion of the songs or the red thread of Vengeance’s terse, cutting rock jargon. These moments hold the classic hard rock smashers that Vengeance spoiled their followers with long ago, like Wait Until Sun Goes Down or I Never Felt This Way Before, both with a penetrating mid-tempo rhythmic “drive”, which Dance, Dance, Dance and So Many Times don’t avoid either as the record goes on.
Vengeance wouldn’t be Vengeance if they didn’t steer the whole thing onto the tracks of pure rock n’ roll goofing around too, which remains one of the band’s trademarks on the new album. Tears of laughter practically force their way onto your face when you tackle songs like Rock And Roll band or MySpace Freak. It’s no news that the band likes to express itself through blues licks too, which suits it less, mostly because Goewie’s vocal becomes seriously annoying in those moments, with its throaty stretching of the highest lines, almost drunken. Luckily the goofy verses successfully lead the listener to the point of forgiveness. Basically, Vengeance are too rough a band to handle the blues (ah, nothing new for European hard rock), which is why What The Hell Is Going On and the closing Lean On Me are the less interesting moments of the record, and the other nine songs on the album could have easily survived without them.
However you slice it, on “Soul Collector” too the facts about the band remain unshakable. Vengeance keep breathing untamed, taking in air with full lungs of adolescent rock n’ roll recklessness that radiates real rock swagger, erogenous flirtiness and a readiness to pull a juicy prank of shameless bite on us at any moment, which belongs in every healthy rock vocabulary! Recommended listening for everyone who loves simple, raw, get-under-your-skin rock sharpness, the kind that works instantly on the very first listen!
Lineup
Leon Goewie -vocals
Jan Somers – guitar
Timo Somers – guitar
Barend Courbois – bass guitar
Erik Stout – drums
Production
Michael Voss
Track list
01. Cross In The Rain
02. Wait Until The Sun Goes Down
03. Soul Collector
04. Samurai
05. What The Hell
06. Myspace Freak
07. I Never Felt That Way Before
08. Dance Dance Dance
09. Rock And Roll Band
10. So Many Times
11. Lean On Me
