Riven By Ravens – Venerate
Riven By Ravens – Venerate – Album Review
You can always tell you’re in for a Rock record with serious energy when you get that slow and sleepy piano intro to start things up, which you’ll find on “The Assistant” from Riven By Raven’s new album Venerate. They’re using that intentionally deceptive misdirection we all know and love…believe me, you’ll recognize this move from past albums you’ve heard I’m sure…so you end up like…bracing yourself for what you know is going to come. I mean, even if you look at the list of influences you’ll find on their main website, you’ll see names that have successfully pulled off the quiet introduction experience – so clearly, Rivens By Ravens comes by going this route not only because they know it works, but because they love hearing it too. “The Assistant” drifts in like a fog rolls through town or a shroud is delicately placed over a corpse…”heavy weighted words” & such…there’s drama, there’s tension & then there’s…
…the inevitable detonation of the build-up, which comes through the burly beginning of “A Wise Man.” From what I understand, the music of Riven By Ravens is created by Brian Havrilla and Paul Wilson. Credit where credit is due, they clearly have a grip on how to make a large amount of noise, which as I pointed out, clearly contrasts with the gentleness of the way they’ve led you on with “The Assistant.” While it’s a somewhat known move to be made in Alt-Rock/Heavy-Rock records, it’s by no means any less effective than it always is…that’s the nature of the quiet/loud dynamic and how sound works. Riven By Ravens proceed to punch your face with a fierce yellin’ from there, in addition to supplying savage clarity in their instrumentation…the bass makes a huge impact, the guitars clearly have the chops to impress, they’ve added in ambitious ideas into the background, and this duo makes it known that they’ve come ready to play. Vocally, I found some moments that I liked – in particular, I thought spots like the breakdowns were great, and the chorus hooks of “A Wise Man” are sure to be remembered.
As they blazed up the start of “Say What You Mean” with a HUGE scream, I’ll be honest with ya, I’m actually a little surprised that this song didn’t end up being the track that came right after “The Assistant.” The most intense moments of the vocals on “Say What You Mean” come through brilliantly. Generally speaking, their rocking with a vibe that’s usually a bit on the outside of what I personally tend to listen to – but I’ve spent plenty of time with somewhat similar acts like Deftones & Rise Against, and heck, I even photographed Chevelle way back in the day when I first got my start in music journalism. I know where they’re coming from and the sound they’re aiming for, even if it’s not always what’s at the top of my playlists these days. Make no mistake, Riven By Ravens can obviously play…I might not know exactly who is doing what as they both have a ton to do within each song, but it’s clear that both Brian and Paul know their way around the amplifiers. Is “Say What You Mean” the song that the Alt-Rock/Post-Metal scene is looking for? That’s probably a bit harder to say. I think right now, in the context of a debut, they’re making the music that they wanna make…I’m a little on the fence with the vocals if I’m being honest with ya…the intense stuff is coming through perfectly, the smoother design to the verses…I’m not as sure of that – and that’s the opposite of how I felt in listening to “A Wise Man” somewhat. They’re executing with confidence though – even when things seem like they might get a bit overwhelmed like around the 2:20-2:40 spot, they manage to compensate by just going for it and owning the moment, which can have its own level of appeal too.
I think a lot of listeners out there are probably going to feel like Filter is a close comparison to what Riven By Ravens create a lot of the time. As “Trainwreck” started up, that’s who they reminded me of, which ain’t bad company. I guess I’m talking more on a structural level than I am about the cold hard reality of comparing sounds. But whether it’s Papa Roach or Trapt, one-off projects like Ashes Divide, or names they’d probably prefer from their list of influences like Chevelle & Rise Against – they’re going to have to deal with the reality that there is a LOT of this sound out there…and it’s extremely tough to stand out inside of this style of music in a way that separates you completely from the rest, you feel me? I like “Trainwreck” personally…there’s a lot of me that feels like this is probably the tightest track that I’ve heard in the first four AND one of the most creatively ambitious at the same time, even despite the fact that it will still have them being compared to this name or that name. I look at it this way – Venerate is the DEBUT record from this duo, and we have to be mindful of that…right now, we’re really just looking for cohesion and execution…they gotta be able to walk before they can run, that kind of thing. Tracks like “Trainwreck” speak volumes on behalf of how quickly they’ll settle into making the kind of twisted Alt-Progressive-Metal-Punk-Rock hybrids they wanna make – for a seven minute song, I thought they nailed this cut beyond expectation and delivered a seriously compelling performance. They switch things up several times on the inside of this one song, and it’s truly impressive that they keep the wheels on as they rip through “Trainwreck” – all-in-all, this is a great track for Riven By Ravens.
There will be things that structurally get smoothed out over the course of their existence. Lay out can be a big thing when it comes to introducing a band to their potential audience, and if you’re not really always about a seven minute track, having two of them appear back to back can cause “a different perception” of what listeners are in-store for, and can actually be a little on the risky side early on in a set-list. Fans of the sound can hang with the added length, sure – but at the start of a career, you’re trying to catch pretty much everyone you can, especially those that are on the fringe…and simply spacing tracks of this magnitude out in the lineup can go a long way. “Ten Years Ago Today” is a good tune…I like how it straddles the realm between the light and the dark, switching between the heavy stuff and mellower vibes – it’s like tracks one & two, but combined together – you get all those loud/quiet dynamics in one experience. They ramp up the intensity towards the five & a half-minute mark, before breaking it down again so that they can punch through to the finale…ahhh…what can I say here? They make it through. I think it’s fair to say that sometimes longer tracks can feel a bit like they’re searching for a tighter version of themselves…like I feel that there’s probably a pretty kickass four to five minute take on “Ten Years Ago Today” if they were to trim some of the extraneous parts, but that could also be the effect of taking in more than fourteen minutes shared between two tracks.
It should be noted however, that Paul and Brian have been playing together for several decades according to what I’ve read…they were in a previous band together…so presumably, they know what they’re looking for in the sound they possess. It makes sense when you hear them flip the switch like they do in a song like “Drift” and crank up the heat – they attack moments like that on a unified front and get the absolute most out of it. I feel like there’s still some room to hold themselves accountable in the vocal department…”Drift” is a great example of where they’re hitting 95% of what they want to bang-on, but it’s that 5% they’ve gotta make sure they’re prepared to live with. If you’re wide of the mark for tone or energy, that’s what you’re going to hear as a song’s creator over time – not all the stuff you did right, I promise ya. That being said, we accept a lot on our side of the speakers too – one of my favorite voices in Alt-Rock is Ken Andrews, and that guy has proven to be massively unpredictable in what ends up on a recording…so hey, chances are, it’s moments like just past the two-minute mark on “Drift” that matter the most, and Riven By Ravens is getting those out like a force to be reckoned with. Uneven as the vocals might appear under the microscope, the moments where they’re under the spotlight most directly are coming out in their favor…and I’d assume the court of public opinion will be cool with that – now it’s up to them to decide if they are too, or if another run through in the studio and/or a bit more patience in the making of their music is what ends up being more important to them.
A fourteen song debut is gonna have some cracks in it, even if it’s being made by a duo with decades under their belt…that’s just stone cold reality and I don’t know what else to really say about that. As I always say around these pages of ours, there are about five perfect records with more than twelve songs on’em, and while I’d have to check to be sure, I’m pretty confident none of them would be a debut. So give’em time…Riven By Ravens will continue to grow, evolve, refine, and streamline what they do to serve them the best as they progress, and cuts like “The Pieces Pt. 1” will probably get trimmed down substantially if they even exist at all. I feel similar towards this as I did to “The Assistant” and “Ten Years Ago Today” – it’s not that the ideas are lacking, they’re just being spread a bit too thin, in my opinion. Especially in the case of a track labeled with a part one – we know it’s there to essentially set up part two, right? Well…I don’t wanna be the guy in the crowd shouting get to the chorus…but at the same time, I’m not completely sure that Riven By Ravens aren’t wandering a bit too far where we wouldn’t get a little restless, you know what I mean? I’ll be real with ya…I feel like we get about two minutes into “The Pieces Pt. 2” before we can sink our teeth into some real meat. Once we get to that point, I’m pretty much loving life, because they sound freakin’ great as they surge forward, and just as fantastic as they break it down into solos and whatnot afterwards…but if we’re counting part one and part two together, you get it, that’s a five minute ride to get to the parts we’d consider most universal.
“If It Was A Snake,” then it’d probably be a music critic – hey o! As they hit the verse of this one, the first thing I thought to myself was that this is a truly strong candidate to be a single. I’m not entirely sure that I finished in that same spot, but there are many single-worthy ideas found inside of this song. Ultimately, I think they’ve got themselves a case of having out-written themselves between the verses and chorus in this tune…it’s not that they’ve got themselves an anti-chorus, but what they’ve got in the verses and pre-chorus are way stronger overall. It happens – and you know something? It’s not always a bad thing at all. Hooks are hooks man…I don’t really think people care where they find’em as long as they exist somewhere. They put in a solid performance on “If It Was A Snake,” and that’s all they can do – the rest of what comes after is all just opinion my dudes…whether coming from someone else, or an A-hole like me, it doesn’t matter – take what you take out of it and leave the rest. The bottom line is that Riven By Ravens aren’t holding back when it comes time to push record, which will give any of their tunes a shot at being their audience’s favorite cut. I’d still tell ya that “If It Was A Snake” belongs up there with the best in this set…from my perspective, it’s one of this record’s most well-balanced tracks.
I’m inclined to give “Death Of An Ego(maniac)” a passing grade too and say that Riven By Ravens is for the most part, on a fairly decent roll from about halfway through “The Pieces Pt. 2” on forward. At least until the solo on “Death Of An Ego(maniac)” that is…if that spot makes MY brain hurt trying to figure out what the heck they’re doing or keep up with them, then the average everyday listener is gonna be like WTF just happened there? Don’t get it twisted though – it’s another great effort with little room for it to be done any better than they’ve done it already. I’m not like, in love with the “can’t force me on my knees” as a hook, but whatever, I’d still acknowledge that it works well enough…it’s just a weird fit when everything else surrounding it is so fluid. Some of the harmonies…again, I’ve gotta be real with them – they’re good, but they’ve still got room to level-up and make them great. Ideas-wise, “Death Of An Ego(maniac)” is up there with the album’s stronger tunes. I think Riven By Ravens have a major choice to make though…when I’m listening to the solo on this cut, I start wondering if they’re making things overcomplicated to the point where they’re narrowing their potential audience as a result. They’ve gotta ask themselves if they’re going that route for the street cred, their own enjoyment, or if they truly believe moments like that enhance the listening experience…only they know which one it really is, but really analyzing a spot like that could play a crucial role in how they design their music going forward. Screams and transitions, power and definition…all that’s a ten outta ten…lots of positives to work with.
Case in-point, “Not All Angels Are Saints” ain’t ready yet – this is where objectivity becomes a crucial part of making a record. Hard discussions have to be had sometimes, and harder decisions need to be made; it’s never easy to let go of material we created out of thin air, but sometimes you gotta. I’m not against the ideas I hear on “Not All Angels Are Saints” – shit, there’s LOTS of great stuff about this track if we’re looking at it on paper…and maybe I could even make an argument on behalf of how it’s already come out with respect to the music & instrumentation. Vocals-wise though…I’m a bit at a loss for words this time…I don’t think they could be hearing anything that I’m not, could they? This song needs at least another couple takes in the studio booth…we can all hear that, right? For real…no disrespect intended – I think even the greatest of the great have questionable moments – but don’t sell yourself short when you don’t have to y’all. If you don’t have some studio executive poking you in the ribs with a sharp stick telling you that your album HAS to be out by yesterday…take all the time you need to get things as right as you can, otherwise you’ve got someone like me that’ll come along and call you out on something we’ve already heard you prove that you can do better. Usually when you come across moments like this where a track sticks out for the wrong reasons, it’s largely because it’s a newer song in the set and the band or artist in question was stoked about the ideas, but hasn’t had enough time with the actual material yet. I’d bet the farm on the fact that Riven By Ravens can already play this song better than what we’re hearing on the recorded version on Venerate, simply because they’ve had more time with it now. As it stands…like I said…don’t be afraid to be objective, and know that cutting a performance that doesn’t quite measure up doesn’t mean a song sucks – it’ll often get its moment later on down the road – but in taking something like “Not All Angels Are Saints” outta the lineup, the set-list could be stronger.
Yeah man…they’ve got a responsibility to each other. It’s TOUGH to be in a duo, don’t get me wrong – I’ve been there, and I know. If you can’t have the hard talks you need to, then you can end up with mixed results, straight up. As I listened to “The Delusionist,” at first I was like FUCK YEAH, they’ve made my life easier, because it’s so easy to hear how many things are going right in the vocals of “Death Of An Ego(maniac)” and the start of “The Delusionist” that it seemed like Riven By Ravens was going to make my case about “Not All Angels Are Saints” that much more clear. Because I promise ya folks, I ain’t trying to create issues where they don’t exist. But then…around 1:07 on “The Delusionist” – they become “a testament to chaos” and create a really interesting & highly complex vocal rhythm that completely gets the better of them. To say anything otherwise would be “a denial of fact” – and deep down, they know it. Like I was saying before, they have functional ears just like I do…so when things go south tone-wise, they have to be able to hear it just like we do. Riven By Ravens have to convince themselves to stop settling, full stop. I cannot count how many times they’ve proven to be great with their vocals throughout this record – there are TONS of examples! Which is exactly what makes it so much tougher to accept the moments where it seems like they’ve rushed things through with something that’s sub-par to the standards THEY have set. I’m simply holding people accountable y’all – you’re welcome to shoot the messenger if you wanna, but when things have been working out for Riven By Ravens, I’ve been there to tell ya that too – my comments are objective on both sides of the fence. To me, I feel like “The Delusionist” would be up there in the top three cuts in terms of its potential – I feel like there’s really something here, and for the most part, they’ve nailed it! Even the part I’m questioning – I still LOVE what they’ve got as an idea, I just want more out of the execution cause they’ve proven that they can do it, that’s it, that’s all, I swear. If that makes me the villain, then I guess that’s who I am.
Alright…there we go – “Grey Sky” – THIS is the song that reinforces my point. If this can come out so flawlessly, then like…well…I mean, you get what I’m getting at by now, right? Do this! And keep on doin’ it! I’m not even here to argue that it’s the best track on the record, though I’m confident many of ya could very well feel that strongly about it – I’m just saying their attention to detail is spot-on, and they haven’t included anything in this track that we can question. We’re all gonna like what we like and love what we love – no band can escape the fickle judgements of people’s personal taste – but they’ve done everything that they can do on a cut like “Grey Sky.” I look at it this way – they should be inviting comments that make them consider what they’re doing right, and what could potentially be improved, whether it’s my opinion or someone else’s along the way – but more importantly, as a duo, where only TWO MEN are responsible for being as great as they can be…it’s so crucial that they have those open & honest conversations about what’s working and what ain’t. Love the vocals in the hooks of the chorus on this cut…lyricism is great…love the addition of the spoken word samples…the definition in the bass, the grind of the guitars, the breakdown, the bring-back, the cleverness of the drums – I mean, you name it & I feel like they’ve really tapped into what makes that element of this song work for Riven By Ravens.
I would take an entire album of songs filled with “Quiver Of Sorrows” – and hell, I’d even appreciate a track like “The Assistant” more in that kind of context, I assure you. Regardless, this is a BRILLIANT finale, and I genuinely wish that we got a whole lot more of it…because fuck man, this is ART. I know that isn’t going to be likely for the future of Riven By Ravens, but the haunting nature of this ending and how grippingly spare this final cut is will have the hairs on your neck standing on end. “Can you hear the sirens?” And YES – I CAN! They’re set so perfectly way off in the distance, growing closer at a very slow rate, but they’re in there. It’s one of many elements that makes this spoken-word/piano piece so vivid in our minds as we listen. The use of ambient sound, of space & silence, of poise & precision…they’ve honestly crafted a show-stopper here, and I couldn’t take my ears off of it. It’s HEAVY in its emotional weight…”Quiver Of Sorrows” arguably goes deeper thematically than any other track on the record, and even though it’s decisively different than just about every other cut between the bookends of Venerate’s lineup…man…I’ll be damned if this last track doesn’t immediately have you wanting to push play again to have another listen and see if you might have missed something else you’ll love this much. They might have to compete in a different category with “Quiver Of Sorrows,” but make no mistake y’all, this is an award-worthy tune from the writing straight on through to the execution. It makes for one heck of a memorable ending to Venerate…and creates an argument to make more tracks like this.
I’m listening either way…these two guys deserve a lot of credit for how much they’ve put into this album overall. We all have room to evolve and grow in whatever it is we do – myself certainly included – but I have always maintained we should want that. The dedication they’ve already put into their music career definitely speaks to the fact that they love what they do…so stick with’em…Rivens By Ravens are just getting going, and they have all the right pieces they need to succeed with Paul & Brian at the helm.
Venerate gets its official release on June 7th this year – find out more about Riven By Ravens from their official website at: https://rivenbyravens.com
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