PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Dutch Melodic metal band La Ventura released their second album (White Crow) 2 years ago, and if you haven’t heard it then it’s definitely worth a listen if you like melodic metal with great female vocals. For the last few months they’ve been fairly quiet as they’ve been working on new material. Now they’re ready to release some of it – not a full album just yet, but a 4 track EP.
To accompany the EP launch the band have released a video for “As I lay dying” – check it out below this review and hear the song for yourself.
So what can you expect from the EP? Well if you’ve listened to “White Crow” then you’ll have a pretty good idea of what to expect, but if you haven’t heard it, then you can expect great vocals and some great melodic metal. There’s a definite progression from the last album – La Ventura haven’t changed things radically, just got better at every aspect of what they do. The guitar riffs pack more of a punch, the vocals are the best I’ve heard from Carla, the keyboard arrangements add richness to the music, and the production is spot on.
The opening track, “Carry on” has an electronic style intro which surprised me, but then the heavy chugging guitar riffs kick in and any panic that the band had changed beyond recognition disappeared. It’s a fantastic song, and the electronic elements are used sparingly and in a way that adds to the song.
I won’t talk about “As I lay dying”, the second track on the EP – it’s better for you to just watch the video and hear for yourself just how good this song really is.
“Brave man” skips any slow intro and instead gives you the full impact of the guitars and drums right from the start.
“The Great escape” brings the EP to a close. It’s an excellent song, but then again all four songs on this EP are excellent.
This new EP from La Ventura is excellent – a real step up from “White Crow” and is definitely well worth buying. I look forward to hearing the new songs being played live.
La Ventura will be playing a UK date at the Quinphonic festival just outside Birmingham on Easter Sunday (March 27th)
Track listing:
1. Carry on
2. As I lay dying
3. Brave man
4. The great escape
La-Ventura are:
Carla van Huizen – vocals
Saz Kondic – guitars
Mike Saffrie – bass
Stef Simons – drums
