Veni Domine
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Another Swedish band, this time it is Veni Domine. Guess what, they are a doom metal quintet, the name doesn’t reveal anything does it? In classic doom fashion they use a name from the latin language, it means come, lord; in case you were wondering. Thing is though that the band has changed name, twice. First they were called Glorify and then Seventh Seal. In 1989 they changed the name in 1989 and then they made their debut album 1991 and one of the songs from that album makes a reappearance on this, their seventh album. This album can also be said to be something of a comeback for this band considering that it was seven years since their latest album, the fans has been forced to wait for a long time so let us see what these fans will get.

One thing they’ll get, music by a band that has been flying low, under the radar. I am not sure I have ever heard about them before but that is always a better thing when reviewing as it doesn’t lead to preconceptions. This is doom metal in its foundation. It is spiced up with progressiveness, built around long tracks with progressive and atmospheric elements topping up a cocktail of doomy metal music. A bit uptempo for genre as well as good variation can be heard in this album that is certainly varied enough to last for the entire playing time of 67 minutes over nine tracks. Production is very strong as well, one of the better productions I have heard in the genre and I can also point out that I find this a very strong production.

Strong album, most certainly. I think this is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise both stagnant and tired genre. The progressive elements blend well together with the doomy elements, impressive album and I believe most will find it worth the seven year wait from the latest album. Of course I do not know what the albums before sounded like but even if they were better I find it difficult to see that anyone would be disappointed about this album. Well done guys! But maybe I would have liked a stronger focal point of the album, there is no song that really stand out and grab you as a listener. The songs are good, but I miss such a thing as that would have made this a real standout album.

I have two favourites of the album, the opening track In Memorian is very good, especially the start and the fourth track Where the Story Ends is another one that I like somewhat more than the rest. So in the end I would say that this is a solid and very strong album, well worth investing some pennies in. So if you like doom metal, then you should not miss this album, it is very good.

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