Vanna – A New Hope
Release Date: March 24, 2009
Record Label: Epitaph
I couldn’t help but think of Stars Wars Episode IV (nerd alert) when I noticed the title for Vanna’s latest album. In A New Hope the movie, the Jedi is rare and nearly extinct , and Luke Skywalker is told he will be the savoir. In the same sense, good metalcore (or whatever –core you want to call this) is rare. Will Vanna’s A New Hope breathe life into a stale genre, or will it end up more like The Phantom Menace?
The Boston five-piece does a fairly good job of incorporating melody into their brand of metal. “Let’s Start An Earthquake” sets the tone, but it takes a few tracks for the album to really get going. It’s incredibly difficult to find the difference between tracks like “Into Hell’s Mouth We March” and “The Same Graceful Wind.” The album hits it peak in the middle though, with bruising tracks such as “Safe To Say” and “We Are The Nameless.” “Trashmouth” is especially delicious, as its paced by Nick Lambert and Evan Pharmakis’ dizzying guitar attack that will leave you scorched like Uncle Owen.
“Sleepwalker” is pulverizing, as Chris Campbell kills on the kit while vocalist Chris Preece shreds his vocals. Full of twists and turns, the track is chaotic romp and the standout on A New Hope. And “Life and Limb” has enough energy in it to keep Chev Chelios alive for a few hours.
But A New Hope stalls on tracks such as “Where We Are Now” and drags to a dull end with closer “The Sun Sets Here” Not to mention that Vanna offers the same formula countless other bands have given before.
A New Hope is a by-the-numbers album. If you liked Vanna or the genre before, then you will dig this. But those looking for something fresh probably won’t be too high on this. There are some really good parts to the album, especially tracks five through eight, and Steve Evetts production is crystal clear as usual. But, unlike Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vanna is not our only hope.
nothing groundbreaking. But take it for what it is and you find it a really enjoyable record. I met a few of them in a bar a few years ago and they were super nice guys.
I think this album was a huge improvement from Curses. I'll probably get ripped for saying that, but this album definitely shows off their musical ability, especially the guitarists', way more than Curses did. Anyways, "Sleepwalker" is the best song on this album by a long shot, I wasn't really thrilled about "Into Hell's Mouth" or "Safe to Say" when they posted them up on myspace but the rest of the album is pretty awesome. I definitely agree with the statement you made about "if you liked Vanna before, you'll like this" as opposed to someone who has never heard them looking for something new. They definitely don't try anything radically different with this album, but if you like more of the same then it's great.
I think this album was a huge improvement from Curses. I'll probably get ripped for saying that, but this album definitely shows off their musical ability, especially the guitarists', way more than Curses did. Anyways, "Sleepwalker" is the best song on this album by a long shot, I wasn't really thrilled about "Into Hell's Mouth" or "Safe to Say" when they posted them up on myspace but the rest of the album is pretty awesome. I definitely agree with the statement you made about "if you liked Vanna before, you'll like this" as opposed to someone who has never heard them looking for something new. They definitely don't try anything radically different with this album, but if you like more of the same then it's great.
Yeah I agree. Vanna have grown musically and it's better than curses. However I think safe to say is one of the best songs on the record.
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