Coldrain - Vena (2015)^{Release ID: 23289}

Coming in at their 4th album, Coldrain were already tapped out from their epic UK journey and felt ready to make a new album. I'm guessing their tiredness has infected their work because Vena doesn't reach the same heights as their previous two albums.

Sure their sound has already sailed beyond the shores of Japan to please the western lands, but Vena seems to lack the sound you really wanna find. But at least they were confident enough to unleash more metalcore into their contemporary alt-metal/hard rock songs. While this was never THE alt-metalcore album of 2015, you'll hear a good amount of what they had to offer...

The title intro is basically a sonic face kick, attacking with one minute of un-melodic vocals and heavy metalcore riffs. A brutal beginning before the hard rock/metalcore mix to follow... There are well-done moments in "Wrong", to welcome you to actual songs with beefed-up guitars. "Divine" brings the band at friendly competition with Crossfaith without becoming too much of a b****rd hybrid. Staying innovative as ever, the groove and clapping of "Gone" unexpectedly add rock anthem traditions to the lament of a walkaway love. "Words of the Youth" continues the heartful blend of heavy screams and melodic cleans over guitar fire and fury.

"The Story" creates a blustery storm in the chorus to show how hugely famous they are in their homeland. The howling of the unwelcome ballad "Whole" brings the album stuck in a traffic jam-sized standstill that doesn't really go anywhere. Masato sounds just fine in "Runaway", but Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix butts in, he really has his vocal power that make that song another highlight.

I kinda like "Pretty Little Liar" that has powerful harsh vocal techniques to level up the heaviness of the band, though not as much as the heavier extreme bands out there. However, while Masato's vocals are on fire, the actual instrumentation fails to make a laser-powerful impact and is a bit dull. I find the lovey-dovey "Heart of the Young" too sentimental. Love songs are overrated! They lose more of their key features in the closing "Fire in the Sky" which, while they stay in dangerously brutal metalcore territory, it doesn't really conclude the album naturally enough to represent the release.

Vena is a well-executed album by a group of young experts crossing over Japanese rock with western alt-metalcore, despite several songs not having enough strength or impact. Coldrain have that crossover mix locked and loaded....

Favorites: "Wrong", "Divine", "Gone", "The Story", "Runaway"