Back in 1987, Torbjörn Weinesjö, Thomas Weinesjö and Anders Olofsson decided to start the band that was going to be Veni Domine. The band Glorify was formed, yet without a singer and a formed vision of the sound. Fredrik Ohlsson came in late 1987. After a brief meeting Fredrik was a member, because the band really needed a singer, and he seemed to be a nice guy. He was accepted without a rehearsal! The band now started to rehearse for their first gig, and for a demo. As things turned out the band felt in need of a change on the bass side, so without having a replacement they let their old time friend Anders go, and the quest for a replacement was on. Magnus Thorman joined the band in 1987, just in time for the first real demo effort. The three songs recorded were "Stranger", "Always In Time" and "Don't Be Wasted Forever". Mixing this was Mick Nordström (Modest Attraction, Leviticus), whom also did the second demo, recorded in Sollentuna. The second demo included the songs "Face Of The Prosecutor", "The King Is Crowned" and "The Savior". Slowly the style of Glorify changed, so in 1988 the band changed their name to Seventh Seal. Playing local gigs around and rehearsing real hard, the band started to get their vision. 1990 saw Seventh Seal got in contact with Thunderload Records, and made their third demo containing the songs "Fall Babylon Fall", "Wisdom Calls" and "Armageddon". This demo was sent out only to the British Greenbelt festival, and they in turn asked Seventh Seal to come to England. At the Greenbelt festival, English label Kingsway Music saw the band, and their soon to be manager convinced the label to sign Seventh Seal. The band went to Eastbourne, England to record in the ICC studios in the summer of 1991. At the same time the band had to change the name due to a law suite threat by American band Seventh Seal. The band decided to go with Veni Domine, as Fredrik and Magnus suggested. After about three weeks of recording in England, Fredrik caught ill and the band had to finish the album in Stockholm, Sweden. Due to the long song "The Chronicle Of The Seven Seals", there was a limited amount of studios that could handle the reel of the tape to that song: One of the studios that were able to do it was Thunderload. So the band did the vocals, added some guitar tracks and did the final mixing. The debut, entitled 'Fall Babylon Fall', saw the light of day in 1992, and got a worldwide release.

FALL BABYLON FALL (1992, 1997) THUNDERLOAD/MASSACRE

The debut album from Sweden's Veni Domine shows a band that had something of their own to contribute with in the metal circuit. They blend progressive metal with almost oriental-like doom elements, creating a rather unique sound. For the most part the guitars are slow, yet never boring, as they bring in the progressiveness to the bands sound. Keyboards are also a key ingredient in the music (strange then that the band didn't even have a regular keyboard player on their first 2 albums!). But never does this element steal anything away from the heaviness, but rather function as something to create a background mood. I must admit that my biggest "problem" with Veni Domine has always been Fredrik's voice. He has this clean voice that sounds a clone between Messiah's (Candlemass) and Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche). But he never manage to uphold any of these guys standard, and at times he is almost out of key. Still, if you manage to deal with this, and get used to his voice, you will find some really cool music on this album. Although it was initially released worldwide, the album was sold mainly in the Christian circles. But when the German label Massacre took the band under their wings, they re-released the album with a bonus track in 1997. This is the version I have. But as far as I can tell, this CD exists on at least 4 different labels.

Killer tracks: King Of The Jews, In The Day Of The Sentinel, Wisdom Calls

MATERIAL SANCTUARY (1994) THUNDERLOAD

Veni Domine continues their conquest with more epic/progressive metal. 'Material Sanctuary' is the logical follow up to 'Fall Babylon Fall'. For many fans, this was the pinnacle of the band, and with songs like "The Meeting" and "Material Sanctuary" that is not too hard to see. Fredrik's high-pitched vocals are wailing on top of the bands stellar musicianship. At times he can be also here become a little too much. But ultimately I think it is a taste issue. Especially the two opening tracks had me instantly thinking of Candlemass. But this bands music has just as much in common with bands like Fates Warning and Queensrÿche. As with their first release, the awesome cover art for this album was also done by Rodney Matthews (Seventh Angel, Asia, Magnum, Motherlode etc.). This album was re-released on the Massacre label in 1995. 'Material Sanctuary' was my first meeting with this band. 

Killer tracks: The Meeting, Ecclesiastes, Material Sanctuary, Beyond The Doom

SPIRITUAL WASTELAND (1998) THUNDERLOAD/MASSACRE

With a change of bass-players, and adding a keyboard player as a full-time members, these Swedish prog/doom metallers deliver yet another solid release. Their majestic music sounds really good here also. To me it is the guitar-work that does the job on particularly this album. I like that they use so much acoustic guitars, and since the production is better here than on the first 2 albums, the electric guitars sounds beefier, again adding more meat to the riffs. Song like "Hysterical History" and "Someone's Knocking" has a definitive Queensrÿche vibe to them. The album as a whole is not as doom-influenced, but the band have rather mixed in some somber elements in some of the tunes. I'm not sure I dig 'Spiritual Wasteland' as much as I like 'Fall Babylon Fall' and/or 'Material Sanctuary' though, but that does not make it a bad album at all. This album got way more recognition then it's predecessors too, so I would guess that Massacre were doing their job with marketing the CD.

Killer tracks: Dawn Of Time, Hysterical History, Someone's Knocking

After the release of 'Spiritual Wasteland' Veni Domine decided to move fast in order to get the next album out, knowing the music business would soon forget a band not releasing anything within a few years. The songs for the new album were already at work back in ´97. So the band started the recording of 'IIII' in the fall of 2000. Drums was layed down in no time, as well as the rest of the backgrounds. The band started to work on the vocal parts, but as they got close to Christmas, Fredrik got what was thought to be a cold. But after several breaks, and attempt to continue recording, it was apparent that Fredrik was out of shape. So the sessions got shorter and shorter, and frustration got bigger and bigger. Many specialists and doctors was checked out, but no one could diagnose what was wrong with Fredrik. They decided to let time do the healing. Then in the fall of 2001 the band started to record again. With their minds set to finish the CD, they rearranged some parts to suit the vocal condition. They moved the recordings to Cell 9 and the Room Of Doom, as Thunderload studios faced a long period of rental by others. And lucky that was, because around new years the studio was flooded, and completely destroyed the old master tapes, and all equipment. During the winter of 2002, Torbjörn started to mix the album. The mix was delivered the 29th of April 2002, in hope to have a release quite soon. But then nothing happened. They gave the record company a couple of months to start things up, but silence was the answer. In late November the band gave up hope, as the record company failed to even respond in the way one would expect. They assumed that the record company simply lost interest, and never would try to get the finished album out. In that area of time Veni Domine signed a management deal and MCM-music, who tried to get them out of the record deal. All of a sudden there was an extreme interest in not letting the band go. In came lawyers and the whole circus was getting started. Veni Domine backed and did not want to pursue their freedom in a court of law. But despite the companies willingness to fight to maintain the record deal, there was still no sign of interest in getting the new album out. Midst of June 2003 the band once again  hooked up with the record company and in a 30 minute call it all was all more or less settled. So after nearly 7 years in waiting, the band could finally release their 4th album on Rivel Records.

IIII "THE ALBUM OF LABOUR" (2004) RIVEL

So, as the story above tells you, the band is back after 7 tough years. Thanks to a relentless dedication to never give up, we are now treated with the 4th album from Veni Domine. The first thing that struck me was the odd title. I can understand the part about it being an album of labor, but the 'IIII' part just seems like they couldn't use the Roman numbers correctly! It should have been 'IV'. Oh well, on to the music. This is without a doubt a much better produced album, delivering a richer sound with even more majestic arrangements. And this time the band has a style of their own, no need for comparisons. But to be totally honest, I'm not too impressed with the songs. I think there have been a slight deterioration album-wise throughout the bands history, and this seems to be the CD I enjoy the least. The weird thing is that I can't put my finger on what it wrong exactly. The band is playing the crap out of many contemporary artists, and Fredrik's voice is something I've managed to get used to in the past. I guess maybe the band is a bit too progressive, leaving the songs a bit unmemorable, and without any real hooks. Maybe it will help with even more spins, but it will take quite a conviction for me to give it much more attention. I'm glad the band got to release it though, and I'm actually eagerly awaiting their next effort, said to be in the recording process as I write this.

Killer tracks: Waiting For The Bloodred Sky, Inner Circle

23:59 (2006) MCM

After the letdown from the last album from Sweden's prog/doom masters, I didn't know what to expect from this one. So I was very pleasantly surprised by '23:59'. This is really a return to form, even surpassing most of what the band have done in the past. Not since 'Material Sanctuary' have they delivered such a strong album. Every song is top notch in their own rights, and I can't find any weak moment on this CD. The music is of course right in the crossroad between progressive metal ala Queensrÿche, and slow doom metal ala classic Candlemass. But this time they also add an almost gothic flavor to the music. Close to every track is slow and moody, and includes some keyboard effects that at first took me by surprise. The closest thing you get to something you'd even call mid-paced must be a song like "Electrical Heaven". But even this sports a doom sound like the rest. What strikes me the most here is that this is probably the sort of album that the "modern" Queensrÿche were going for, but never really managed to create. Because where they fumbled into modern alternative rock, Veni Domine still delivers metal! Torbjörn does sound a lot like one Geoff Tate here though, but unlike on previous efforts from Veni Domine, this time he uses his high pitched vocal style very scarcely. He stays mostly in the lower register of his voice. Sadly there is one element that is preventing me from an all out praise for "23:59". And that is the production. It is really quite muffled at times, and the bass-level is so high, the drums actually sounds as though they are played through speakers that have a burst membrane! So I'm hoping they will at some point re-master, or even remix, this album. But don't let this prevent you from checking out an otherwise stellar record from Veni Domine.

Killer tracks: I really like them all.

TONGUES (2007) MCM

Seems like Veni Domine are trying to make up for the lost 7 years between 'Spiritual Wasteland' and 'The Album of Labour' by releasing a new CD each year now! This is the 3rd album in as many years from the Swedish progressive doom band. 'Tongues' is a natural follow-up to '23:59', and beside 2 members leaving, and being replaced by numerous guests, the music sounds the same. Yes, it is still the guitar-work that makes this album unique, and that puts this listener in a special mood every time I listen to this CD. Torbjörn is probably one of the most underrated guitar-players of today. A virtual unknown that can shred with the best of 'em! He just comes up with so many new twists and turns in every song, you never know what to expect next. Together with his brother, Thomas, on drums, and Fredrik (this time using Sjöholm as his sir name) on vocals, they have always been the nucleus of this band. 'Tongues' is yet another strong album from Veni Domine., although maybe not a good as it's predecessor. At least the last half of the album falls a bit flat in this listeners ears. But I can't imagine why any long time fan of them should not like this CD too.

Killer tracks: October, Two Times, Bless My Pain