Band:	Venturia
Album:	Hybrid
Style:	Melodic progressive metal
Release date:	2008
A review by:	Jeff

01. Swearing Lies
02. Be The One
03. Running Blind
04. Pearls Of Dawn
05. Will You Save Me
06. Sparkling Rain
07. Hottest Ticket In Town
08. Love Gamers
09. Why? This Women's Life
10. Sublimated Dementia

"Hybrid" is the second album of Venturia, a band from Montpellier in the south of France. I've already heard some good words about their first album but this new release will finally be a way to discover if the band deserves to be listened or not. Let's don't wait any more time to give an answer, "Hybrid" is maybe not perfect but this album is good and refreshing, so if you like Progressive Metal I can only recommend it to you and I will let you know why through this review!

"Hybrid" has a lot of good things and what I like the most in this release is the fact that it really sounds modern. Sure, this is a Progressive Metal album but the songs are really modern and you'll have the feeling that you're listening to something really fresh when you'll listen to it. Actually I cannot say that "Hybrid" is unique because the bands didn't avoid some clichés (we will talk about it later?) but all in all there are some good ideas in the album and if you're a bit open minded you should like it. First, I think that the alternation between the female singer and the male singer is really cool and innovative; also I really like the technical parts of the album which never are boring and always hyper catchy. That's the good thing of "Hybrid", that's true the album is maybe a bit commercial but at least even if it's Progressive and complex this is always catchy. I think that we can talk about "easy of access" Progressive Metal here and a lot of people who want to begin to listen to such music should have a look on such releases, I'm sure that they can be the key which will open some doors.

On the other hand even if there are a lot of good things, I have some little negative points to say about the album. First even if she is a good singer, I think that the voice of Lydie Robin is maybe to sweet to be really convincing when you know that in general the riffs are really loud and heavy. It's just my opinion but I find it a bit weird and I think that Marc Ferreira is a lot more convincing (but one more time I'm not saying that Lidye is bad, her voice is just maybe not perfect for such kind of music). Also the clichés of the genre are not avoided and you'll see that the band doesn't take a lot of risks here. The songs are not super original in their compositions but this is just a little reproach and I think that it should become a bit more personal with time. "Hybrid" is full of good ideas that the band will have to develop and add some more personality too. At least the production and the performances of the musicians is tip-top so all in all I cannot say that the album is bad, Venturia has a lot of potential in my opinion.

With "Hybrid" you're in front of a solid album played by a promising band. As you know I cannot say that this release is the ultimate masterpiece but it's already convincing and I have a lot of good hopes for the future of the band. Have a look on it if you like female vocalists and Progressive Metal I promise you that you'll not be disappointed.