Vespers Nine – True Story (2014)
Recommended if You Like: Foreigner, Journey… Vespers Nine is a fairly new band which hails from South Florida, US. They were formed in late 2012 and almost 2 years later they are here with their debut full-length album. The band’s music can be tagged as “rock”, but they also have lots of pop-rock and melodic rock elements along with a few classic rock & hard rock ones.
Even though the album was recorded at AfterHours Recording Studio, in North Miami, and all the songs were produced by the renowned music producer, Hal Batt (Julio Iglesias, Chayanne, Sammy Figueroa etc.), I kinda feel that there’s a shortage on the album’s mixing. The voices and the drums (which sound a bit dry too) are higher on the mix compared to the guitars and the bass. Especially the guitars are somewhat “buried”. There’s a contemporary sense on the album but it does have a late 90s/early 00s vibe.
Another shortage is the plain songwriting. The tracks have a “certain – by the book” rock formula. I think they need to work more on their own ideas and “mix” them with nice melodies. A couple of tracks have some fine hooks but that “uneven & hollow” mixing is making things rather hard for the listener. Nevertheless, this is the band’s debut work, so if they focus more on what they wanna do and work more on the drawbacks, they can come up with nicer things in the future. The “strange thing” is that their FB page has been inactive for almost 2 months now after the release party they threw in late September and the official release date of “True Story”. That ain’t good at all.
1. Mystery
2. Never Enough
3. Forever Yours
4. Walk With Me
5. Broken Wings
6. Waiting for You
7. True Story
8. Alone With You
9. Remember My Name
10. Heart Wide Open
Vespers Nine – True Story (2014)