Reviews

Vanora – Momentum

September 7, 2017

For some bands, to be labeled as modern metal is almost a sacrilege due to all the badmouthing and reputation imputed to bands. Some for sure it was well deserved. But for Vanora, it’s not. “Momentum” is a great effort of a band that is really concerned in standing out from the crowd. The guitar solos in all songs are a proof of that. So are the keyboards. Vanora “Momentum” can please with no doubt a black metal fan, for instance, due to the existing dark and dense atmospheres. But Vanora is a bit mild. Only that. There are lots of black metal elements in Vanora’s music. “Momentum” is an intrinsicly related to the most efforts of progressive black metal bands. Vanora have a lot of guts because this personality moves them away from the top charts lists. “Momentum” is too heavy and dark for common modern metal listeners.

The opening track deceives in the first moments, I myself thought it would be a prog band. I starts smooth and gentle. The voice and the keyboards start in a crescendo. “Mask” experiments some changes in heavyness, but always with the keyboards on lead. That’s the difference in Vanora: the use of the keyboards. Much more than the strong and almost nü metal guitars tones, the keyboards give a little sweetness. So does the voice. The vocalist changes a lot the tones of voice, from an almost gutural one, to the smoothest. But that’s the expected for a modern metal band. The keyboards don’t. Second track, “Stamina,” brings some surprises. The guitar takes the lead, and we have some solos altogether with the song. And then goes in “Requiem,” with some cool guitar passages.

“Momentum” offers us many surprises. Vanora are not a tipical modern metal band, and that’s what makes them atractable to many Metal audiences. As I said before, listeners of atmospherical or progressive black/death metal can enjoy Vanora with no problem. Of course, there are moments that “Momentum” sounds fashionable, but it doesn’t bother at all.

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