April 6, 2004
Producer(s): Will Solares & Vehemence
At a time when Death Metal was going through more-or-less of a dry-spell, other genres of metal, like Metalcore, were starting to gain more attention. Some of the newer Death Metal acts might have been tempted to alter their sound to gain some recognition. I don't know about the other bands, but I know for a fact that Vehemence did not give up on their quest to write (and execute) some of the most brutal Death Metal around. They showed us with their third studio album, 2004's: "Helping The World To See," that they are a Death Metal group and will not settle for anything less.
It is quite easy to see that producer Will Solares, along with the rest of the band sitting at the soundboards, have built one of the biggest and baddest sounding Death Metal releases of the last decade. Vehemence at this point have truly outdone themselves.
With this record, the Phoenix quintet continue to develop and perfect their take on Melodic Death Metal. Main songwriter and guitarist Bjorn Dannov wrote the majority of this record musically. He clearly is the more mature musician of the group, and in my eyes all the songs he penned display a stronger sense of melody.
Yes, his songs are still very aggressive and brutal, but you can however, feel different emotions within his tunes. All contain very distinctive riffing patterns and melodies that are sorrowful, yet sinister at the same time. Tunes like "You Don't Have To Be Afraid Anymore," "Kill For God," and the very atmospheric, "Alone In Your Presence" are the ones that come to mind first when trying to show Bjorn's vastly improving writing skills.
Now that is not to take away from the skills of Vehemence's second guitarist, John Chavez. The biggest difference in the songs in which John wrote, are his strengths in rhythm. While it is true that the songs he penned contain some very nice lead-work, it is the driving rhythms of his tunes that will be remembered, rather than the melody hooks, in my opinion. Simply look at the tracks: "What Could Go Wrong," and "Spirit of The Soldier" to see what I am trying to get at.
Vehemence could not have picked a better title for this record, the lyrical content of "Helping The World To See" does exactly that. Tackling subjects from televangelists in "Trinity Broadcasting (Know Your Enemy)," religion fanaticism in "Kill For God," our military becoming desensitized to violence in "Spirit of The Soldier," to the idea that the politicians that are in control of this world will be the death of all of us if something does not change in "We Are All Dying."
While not every single one of the songs on this record are about major social issues in our society, they are songs that take a look into our society from a different angle, writing from a perspective in which we constantly ignore: that of the victim. On this album, the darker side of human nature is explored extensively, and while these lyrics are fictitious in nature, they can all identify with real life tragedies or misfortunes that have happened in recent history. "Helping The World To See" is an album that does exactly that, only if your willing to open your eyes a little wider and start asking questions rather than just taking the given answers.
It came as a surprise that by the end of 2005, Vehemence dissolved right before our eyes with most members becoming involved with different projects (most noticeably three of the members forming the Black Metal group Abigail Williams). However, in late 2007 the band decided to reform with guitarist Kyle Moeller taking the place of John Chavez. They have been plugging away ever since.
In early 2010, Kyle Moeller decided to leave the band. He would be replaced by guitarist Jake Green. The band has progressed very slowly since "Helping The World To See" was released in 2004 (now seven years ago), however they are now currently at work writing new material. We as fans can only hope that the next record will pick up right where they left off.
It is quite easy to see that producer Will Solares, along with the rest of the band sitting at the soundboards, have built one of the biggest and baddest sounding Death Metal releases of the last decade. Vehemence at this point have truly outdone themselves.
With this record, the Phoenix quintet continue to develop and perfect their take on Melodic Death Metal. Main songwriter and guitarist Bjorn Dannov wrote the majority of this record musically. He clearly is the more mature musician of the group, and in my eyes all the songs he penned display a stronger sense of melody.
Yes, his songs are still very aggressive and brutal, but you can however, feel different emotions within his tunes. All contain very distinctive riffing patterns and melodies that are sorrowful, yet sinister at the same time. Tunes like "You Don't Have To Be Afraid Anymore," "Kill For God," and the very atmospheric, "Alone In Your Presence" are the ones that come to mind first when trying to show Bjorn's vastly improving writing skills.
Now that is not to take away from the skills of Vehemence's second guitarist, John Chavez. The biggest difference in the songs in which John wrote, are his strengths in rhythm. While it is true that the songs he penned contain some very nice lead-work, it is the driving rhythms of his tunes that will be remembered, rather than the melody hooks, in my opinion. Simply look at the tracks: "What Could Go Wrong," and "Spirit of The Soldier" to see what I am trying to get at.
Vehemence could not have picked a better title for this record, the lyrical content of "Helping The World To See" does exactly that. Tackling subjects from televangelists in "Trinity Broadcasting (Know Your Enemy)," religion fanaticism in "Kill For God," our military becoming desensitized to violence in "Spirit of The Soldier," to the idea that the politicians that are in control of this world will be the death of all of us if something does not change in "We Are All Dying."
While not every single one of the songs on this record are about major social issues in our society, they are songs that take a look into our society from a different angle, writing from a perspective in which we constantly ignore: that of the victim. On this album, the darker side of human nature is explored extensively, and while these lyrics are fictitious in nature, they can all identify with real life tragedies or misfortunes that have happened in recent history. "Helping The World To See" is an album that does exactly that, only if your willing to open your eyes a little wider and start asking questions rather than just taking the given answers.
It came as a surprise that by the end of 2005, Vehemence dissolved right before our eyes with most members becoming involved with different projects (most noticeably three of the members forming the Black Metal group Abigail Williams). However, in late 2007 the band decided to reform with guitarist Kyle Moeller taking the place of John Chavez. They have been plugging away ever since.
In early 2010, Kyle Moeller decided to leave the band. He would be replaced by guitarist Jake Green. The band has progressed very slowly since "Helping The World To See" was released in 2004 (now seven years ago), however they are now currently at work writing new material. We as fans can only hope that the next record will pick up right where they left off.
My Killer Kutz: "You Don't Have To Be Afraid Anymore," "What Could Go Wrong?" & "Trinity Broadcasting (Know Your Enemy)."
