SPIRITUAL WASTELAND

"Spiritual Wasteland" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Swedish doom metal act Veni Domine. The album was released by Thunderload Records/Massacre Records in 1998. It´s the successor to "Material Sanctuary" from 1994 and there have been a couple of lineup changes since the predecessor. Bassist Magnus Thorman has been replaced by Gabriel Ingemarson and keyboard player Mattias Cederlund has been added to the lineup (the keyboards on the predecessor were played by session musician Mats Lidbrandt).

The lineup changes have little impact on the band´s sound though and the material on "Spiritual Wasteland" sound very similar in style to the material on "Material Sanctuary (1994)". Epic doom metal with US power metal and progressive metal leanings is the style of music featured on "Spiritual Wasteland". One of the greatest assets of the band´s sound is lead vocalist Fredrik Ohlsson who is a world class singer. He has a voice and delivery which is almost eerily close to the voice and vocal style of Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche) and it´s therefore impossible not to mention Queensrÿche as a major influence on the band´s music. The instrumental part of the material on "Spiritual Wasteland" is much heavier and more gloomy than anything Queensrÿche ever produced though, so there you have the doom metal label on the band´s music. In that respect artists (and fellow countrymen) like Candlemass and Memento Mori are more valid references.

The tempo is slow- to mid-paced, the atmosphere is epic and the riffs and rhythms are heavy. The keyboards are used for atmosphere enchancement and only occasionally have a more dominant role. It´s all about supporting those brilliant vocals and the vocal melodies though, and it is hard to talk about much else on the album, when Ohlsson shines as much as he does here, singing both lead, harmoni, and choir vocals with great power and conviction. The lyrics feature Christian subject matter, but they are not preachy in nature, and they are actually very well written and quite interesting.

"Spiritual Wasteland" features a decent sounding production, although there are certainly elements I would have made different production choices for. The drums for example feature a massive and heavy sound, and to my ears a more subtle and organic tone would have made a positive difference to that part of the soundscape. The album is also slightly too long for its own good, featuring 10 tracks and a total playing time of 61:14 minutes. The tracks simply aren´t memorable enough to support such a long playing time, and they could easily have cut 15-20 minutes and made the album a more conscise and consistently high quality release. As it is "Spiritual Wasteland" is still a quality release though, and the above issues aren´t the worst critique points in the world. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is fully deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)