Vehemence

Six members. Ten songs. Sixty minutes. Sounds laborious? It is. It's not entirely worth the time spent either, but Vehemence is an oddity worth at least a sideways glance (keep your distance though, they might kill you). Not as goth or prog as the math may suggest, Vehemence instead plays a sound that confuses and annoys as it jumps from melodic death to death-goth via the Gothenburg express. The six guys (statistics would imply at least one female would end up in a line-up this big, but alas) in the band can play and write progressive songs adequately, but not astoundingly. Of utmost interest is the amazingly shocking lyrics (it's a concept album), that would make for a truly bizarre horror flick. The warm and clear production keeps things cosy for a while, and the drumming is solid, but 60 minutes is just too long; at 30 things could have been a lot different. For sick gore freaks with long attention spans and a penchant for overdone songwriting.