Frontiers Records are no stranger to putting bands together, like minded musicians who leak talent out of every pore matched perfectly to get the most creativity out of them. One of the latest projects by Frontiers Records is Venus 5; five of the finest contemporary voices plucked and put together with a backing band who have released their self-titled debut album.
Rewind a second… five vocalists and a backing group? Plucked and put together to maximise creativity? Does this sound a like a manufactured pop group… you know the things that rock and metal fans like to get away from? Venus 5 is made up of Herma of Sick N’ Beautiful fame, Tezzi Persson of Infinite & Divine as well as Karmen Klinc, Jelena Milovanovic and Erina Seitllari with a backing band made up from the likes of Aldo Lonobile and Stefan Helleblad known for their work with H.E.A.T., Amaranthe and Sweet Oblivion amongst others. Convinced yet? Well, as Joe Perry once said, let the music do the talking and Venus 5 show they are no slouches; this is an album full of earworm songs, anthemic powerful chorus’ belted out by five of the best that Frontiers has to offer with tracks such as ‘Bride With Blackened Eyes’, ‘Monster Under Your Bed’ and ‘Inside’ really showing what this band can do, having all the hallmarks of Amaranthe, Within Temptation and Infinite & Divine as melodies swell with all the enjoyability of hard rock and power metal without distinctly being either. However, the opening track ‘Lioness’ has an annoying air of Katy Perry about it whilst the closing track wouldn’t be out of place on a post-2000 Bon Jovi album.
There are some very good songs here, there are also some tracks which really grate. Yet ‘Venus 5’ is very, very well produced and the band have a mass appeal which gives them the potential to go far. Is it a manufactured pop group though? The debate rages on…
