Raunchy
Velvet Noise

It is velvety noise that is being offered, and it is being offered anew as this is a reissue of the Raunchy’s debut album from 2001. The album has been reissued several times before, in 2007 an extended version and 2009 the album was reissued again. Now it comes on orange vinyl in the gatefold style, limited to 500 copies. So I guess it is mainly targeting the Raunchy collector, those who would like to have that first smoothly noised album in the superior vinyl format. Something like that, but is it worth it?

If you know Raunchy this album will sound familiar, they have evolved with stronger production and more mature things since this one but this is the one that set the tone. Their music is modern metal, quite melodic but also rough, with velvety sound and noise – good depth and fairly original for its time, perhaps less so compared with things we hear today. I also think that the work Raunchy has done since this album are better productions and probably better starting points than this one – it is rarely the debut album that is the crowning achievement for a band and that also holds true for this band.

Velvet Noise is a good album, but it lacks a distinct hit song that brings the listener into it, a song that makes one want to return to the album over and over. They do not quite reach the same heights that they have done since this album, they have six in the discography so far and of the ones we have reviewed it is the 2014 release that stands out but mind you, we have only reviewed that one and this one and this one is not as good. This feels like an album that is targeted mostly towards the ones who are already fans, and I think it feels slightly dated and I guess that you can say that it hasn’t aged perfectly.

This is an album for those of you who want to own the Raunchy debut on vinyl; it is a fine debut album and a good one overall. But I think there are better choices in the discography of this band, like their latest effort just to name one example. It is an album that will not leave you disappointed, so while it may not be the band’s best effort it is still a safe bet.

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