In the fall of 2002 Viktor placed an ad on a Finnish message board searching for members to start a melodic metal band. Jere replied and together with a drummer he knew, the three started playing together right after Christmas. The band started out playing mostly cover songs, but soon the band noticed they had a bunch of songs of their own and started to concentrate on them. Search for a vocalist and bass player begun without luck. Also in the fall of 2003 the drummer got too busy for the band, so Viktor and Jere were on their own. This was an important stage however, as Viktor wrote a lot of new songs, and they started recording rough versions using programmed drums. In the beginning of 2004, after months of praying and searching for band members, the bands activity was almost dead, and the hope to complete the band lineup almost lost. In February however vocalist Veronica contacted the guys, and soon after drummer Daniel. The two new members immediately learned all the songs as the band started rehearsing again. The band also started to search for a suitable name, but it seemed as all good ones were already taken. From a meeting the word forgiveness caught Jeres mind, and he asked Viktor to check what the Latin translation of the word is. It turned out to be Venia. and the band immediately knew it was the name they had been looking for as it fit perfectly. Hope of playing live grew, and a temporary bass player joined while search continued for a permanent one. Luckily it didn't take long before Juhani reported that he had the time to join. The summer was spent practicing, but mostly recording a demo CD to promote the band with. The first live performance was set for September 2004.

GENESIS - DEMO 2004 (2004) DEMO

This is Venia's first demo recording. This Finnish band play melodic metal, and I think they have done a good job creating a sound of their own. The songs are filled with moods, and comes off as almost progressive in style (not technical, but with tempo changes etc.). Veronica's vocals also fit very well in with the music. Since this is a demo recording, one cannot expect a quality sound, but I hope they can manage to deliver even more in that department with later releases. There band can also become a bit tighter, but I reckon that comes along with more experience, and practice. Their strongest aspect is their talent to write catchy songs, and I for one really like what I hear on this CD. Some of their better tracks are sung in Finnish, and I hope they can put English lyrics to these tracks, and use them on later occasions. You can check out the bands music on their website at www.veniaband.com.

IN OUR WEAKNESS (2005) BOMBWORKS (EP)

After the promising demo, I was looking forward to hear what Venia could come up with next. Bombworks Records signed the band, and this EP is their first proper recording. First of all, I'm a bit surprised than none of the best tracks on their demo have been re-recorded here. What we get are 5 new tracks, opening with a beautiful intro. The band sounds much tighter now, and the production quality, although still a bit thin, is leaps and bounds better here then on the demo. The music is a blend of classic heavy metal and thrash metal. But since they use a female vocalist they have created a sound of their own. If you think that this band is copying Nightwish, think again! They also mix in some more extreme vocal parts here and there. Some of it works very well, and I actually prefer Veronica's harsher style than the male extreme vocals. The track with Finnish lyrics would have been even better in English, but all in all this is yet another convincing effort from this young band. Killer artwork and layout doesn't exactly hurt either.

Venia also appear on:  

V/A - 'The Narrow Path: The CMR Compilation - Volume II'

Related artists:

Bleakwail