Vena (album) explained

Vena
Type:Studio
Artist:Coldrain
Cover:Coldrain - VENA.jpg
Border:yes
Recorded:June – July 2015
Studio:Trojan House and Madden Brothers Studio (Los Angeles, California, US)
Length:38:27
Producer:Brandon Paddock
Prev Title:Until the End
Prev Year:2014
Next Title:Vena II
Next Year:2016

Vena (stylised in all caps) is the fourth studio album by Japanese rock band Coldrain. Recorded at the Trojan House and Madden Brothers Studio in Los Angeles, California with producer Brandon Paddock. It was released on October 21, 2015, in Japan by VAP and on October 23, 2015, worldwide by independent North American label Hopeless Records.[1] [2]

Vena is the second Coldrain album to be released by Hopeless Records, the first being The Revelation, and the fourth album by the band to be released in Japan by VAP. This would be the follow-up to 2013's The Revelation, also to be the first album released worldwide in 2014. It would be their third highest-charting album on the Oricon Albums Chart, debuting and peaking at number 9, only behind Fateless which peaked at number 8 and The Revelation, which peaked at number 7.

The album spawned five singles, two of which that were released prior to the release of Vena. "Words of the Youth" in August and "Gone" the following month. The latter getting substantial air play on radio stations in the United Kingdom and the United States. The following three singles would all be released in 2016, with "Wrong" being released in January, "The Story" in May and the final single "Fire in the Sky", being released on July 27.

Like its predecessor The Revelation. Vena maintains alternative metal elements which were established in The Revelation, while continuing to further refine their sound and often swaying into a style that is known as metalcore in several songs such as "Wrong", "Words of the Youth", "Fire in the Sky" and "Runaway", that would end up featuring Jacoby Shaddix from the Grammy nominated rock band Papa Roach on the record that runs a little over 38 minutes long.[3]

Background

For a good while on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Cryptic tweets would be up such as a random thing about "The calm before the storm", before being followed up with "big things are coming". This would lead to speculation of a new studio album, as well with the band later sharing a strange looking logo that would eventually end up being the tattoo on the album cover.[4]

"Words of the Youth" would later be released as a promotional and downloadable single on August 28, along with the news of the album title, tracklist, album release date and a world tour.[5] However, later teases would also hint at a new music video for the song "Gone".[6] This would end up being released on September 16 and would come out to critical acclaim and get major radio airplay on Octane, BBC Radio One and Kerrang.[7] The band would start promoting the album by playing the lead single "Gone" on tour with Bullet for My Valentine and While She Sleeps on a European Tour in September and October 2015.

Composition

The band's 2015 effort Vena has been critically described as post-hardcore,[8] [9] metalcore,[10] [11] hard rock,[12] [11] alternative rock,[13] alternative metal,[14] [15] and pop.[16]

Critical reception

The album received mixed-to-positive reviews from several critics.

Luke Nuttall of The Sound Board rated the album 7/10 and commented: "On this, their fourth album, the sound that Coldrain have gone for doesn't deviate much from what they've tried in the past. Vena is largely a collection of thoroughly modern hard rock, polished up but not entirely without grit and with the odd metalcore flourish appearing throughout. Largely though, the focus is on their sound's melodic aspect, a wise move considering that's what they're undeniably best at. It's hardly the most original concept – a sort of midpoint between Bullet for My Valentine and Thirty Seconds to Mars – but in terms of what they aim for, they hit all the right targets. The likes of "Divine" and "The Story" have enough stormy bluster in their choruses to show exactly why this band are such a huge deal in their home country, while "Runaway" gallops along with deft riffs before Papa Roach frontman Jacoby Shaddix arrives to steal the show with yet another barnstorming guest appearance to add to his ever growing list."

Ali Cooper of Already Heard rated the album 3/5 and stated: "Beyond the eventless brevity of chaotic opening title track, vocalist Masato Hayakawa pours every ounce of anguish behind melodic cleans and suffering screams throughout ‘Wrong’, just the start of a cleverly produced record depicting the damage of a broken heart and a broken mind. Instrumental blueprints laid by their Hopeless Records neighbours The Used burst through the distortion-laden ‘Divine’, while the sassy and dominant ‘Pretty Little Liar’ stands tall despite drawing more than a passing resemblance to the aforementioned's ‘Pretty Handsome Awkward’."

The aforementioned critics focused more on the aggressive riffs and harsh vocals of frontman Masato Hayakawa. However, Johnathan Markwell of Mosh went on to compliment the beautiful melancholic vocals: "This is most noticeable with lead singer Masato Hayakawa who is able to go from truly aggressive scream vocals to completely melodic chrooning, and he performs pretty much flawlessly. The second half of the album sees some less aggressive tracks and sees Hayakawa focus on his incredible melodic voice such as in ‘The Story’ and ‘Whole’."

Commercial performance

Vena was the second album by the band to peak within the Top 10 on the Oricon Albums Chart, debuting at number 9, while spending a total of 6 weeks on the chart. On the Billboard Top Album Sales chart, Vena debuted at number 10, dropping by 33 chart positions to number 43 the following week.[17] It would spend a total of three weeks within the Top 100.[18] As of January 2022, It is the fifth best selling album by the band in Japan.[19]

Outside of their home country of Japan, Vena charted in the United Kingdom on the UK Independent Album Breakers Chart for a solitary week at number 15, while also being the tenth biggest best seller in independent retailers that week in the whole country. Despite this, it however failed to crack the UK Albums Chart.

In the United States, Vena sold only 310 copies in its first week, failing to chart on Billboard charts in any capacity.[20]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Masato Hayakawa, all music composed by Masato Hayakawa, Ryo Yokochi and Brandon Paddock, except when noted.

Personnel

Credits adapted from album's liner notes.[21] Coldrain

Guest feature

Additional personnel

Charts

Chart performance for Vena
Chart (2015)Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[22] 9
Japanese Albums (Billboard)[23] 10
UK Independent Album Breakers (OCC)[24] 15
UK Official Record Stores (OCC)[25] 14

Release history

RegionDateFormatLabel
JapanOctober 21, 2015CD, digital downloadVAP
WorldwideOctober 23, 2015Hopeless
North AmericaNovember 21, 2016[26] Vinyl
Europe

Notes and References

  1. Web site: coldrain OFFICIAL WEB SITE. coldrain.jp. 2015-10-28. 2015-08-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20150828094032/http://coldrain.jp/news/0/23855/. dead.
  2. Web site: coldrain (Hopeless Records) share video for "Gone". . 17 September 2015.
  3. Web site: coldrain - Runaway (featuring Jacoby Shaddix). . October 23, 2015. March 18, 2020.
  4. Web site: Coldrain Official Twitter (Wayback Machine). https://web.archive.org/web/20150818080459/https://twitter.com/coldrain_jp. dead. August 18, 2015. August 12, 2015. March 18, 2020.
  5. Web site: coldrain Announce New Album and World Tour. August 31, 2015.
  6. Web site:
    1. coldrain #GONE #WorldPremiere #Tomorrow #VENApic.twitter.com/XrQHJ9y13r
    . September 15, 2015.
  7. Web site: coldrain Reveals New Music Video "GONE". September 17, 2015.
  8. Web site: COLDRAIN - POST-HARDCORE FROM NAGOYA. Darkest Reviews. 21 August 2016. 28 July 2021.
  9. Web site: Vena - Coldrain (JAP). Spirit of Metal. 28 July 2021.
  10. Web site: COLDRAIN – 'VENA'. Punktastic. Leddington. Andy. 15 October 2015. 28 July 2021.
  11. Web site: Coldrain - Vena (Review). Metal Temple. Webb. Nick. 31 January 2016. 28 July 2021.
  12. Web site: Interview: Coldrain (Slam Dunk Fest Preview). Already Heard. Reid. Sêan. 23 May 2016. 28 July 2021.
  13. Web site: COLDRAIN PROVES AMBITION WITH LATEST SINGLE, VIDEO. Indie Band Guru. Morales. Cecilia. 23 May 2016. 28 July 2021.
  14. Web site: Coldrain - Vena (2015). Flowlez. 28 July 2021.
  15. Web site: Coldrain - Vena. Banquet Records. 28 July 2021.
  16. Web site: COLDRAIN - VENA. fr. RockUrLife. Renault. Aurélie. 11 January 2016. 28 July 2021.
  17. Top Albums Sales. Billboard. 4 November 2015. 16 January 2022.
  18. Top Albums Sales. Billboard. 11 November 2015. 16 January 2022.
  19. Web site: Coldrain Rankings: Album Sales Ranking. Oricon. 16 January 2022.
  20. Web site: Metal By Numbers 11/4: Sphere are the charts. Metal Insider. Brown. Matt. 5 November 2015. 16 January 2022.
  21. Vena . 2015 . booklet . Hopeless.
  22. Web site: ja. Coldrain – Vena. Oricon. 2 November 2015. 30 November 2015.
  23. Web site: ja. Billboard Japan Top Albums Sales. Billboard Japan. 2 November 2015. 30 November 2015.
  24. Web site: Official Independent Album Breakers Chart Top 20. Official Charts Company. 30 October 2015. 12 March 2021.
  25. Web site: Official Record Store Chart Top 40. Official Charts Company. 30 October 2015. 21 May 2021.
  26. Web site: We are excited to announce we will be releasing a special edition vinyl of our latest album VENA! The album includes all previous tracks from the original record and also includes digital downloads of two brand new songs and acoustic re-workings of 'Gone' and 'The Story', and will be released November 21st. Head here to pre-order your copy now and receive an instant download of the album plus the 4 bonus tracks! smarturl.it/coldrainmerchYou can get VENA II on iTunes here NOW: smarturl.it/VenaII Stream VENA II on Spotify now: smarturl.it/StreamVenaII. Facebook. August 24, 2016. April 4, 2020.