Despite screams, Chevelle's latest unlikely to be heard

Chevelle's fourth studio album, Vena Sera, might seem familiar to fans of the group: It sounds like a collection of B-sides from all of Chevelle's albums from the past 10 years. The songs all feel uniform throughout, and the final impression is one of a solid album, but one that features little to no artistic growth for the band.

Lead singer and guitarist Pete Loeffler's sometimes melodic, sometimes screaming voice floats over the heavy bass and guitar in a way that's almost too reminiscent of Chevelle's earlier albums, Wonder What's Next and This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In).

Devoted followers will find much to be admired in the pounding riffs and gliding vocals, but casual listeners will probably be left unmoved and wondering what's next on the radio instead. Also, Loeffler's vocals have lost much of their similarity to Tool's Maynard James Keenan, which may seem like a move toward individuality but actually feels like a major detraction from the sound of the band overall.

The largest problem with Vena Sera, however, is the lack of growth from Chevelle's previous offerings. Tracks like "The Fad," "Humanoid" and "Midnight to Midnight" are strong when taken individually, but if you listen to them in sequence, they just seem to blend together into one vaguely similar sounding mass of screams and heavy riffs.

Additionally, most of the tracks feel like they're about a minute too long and leave the album feeling more like an endurance test than an enjoyable experience. Far too often, the urge to press the skip button springs to mind - not exactly an indicator of a strong performance.

Despite this, Chevelle manages to include a few standout tracks on the album. "I Get It" features the memorable use of acoustic guitar played over the pounding electric and bass guitars and seems like one of the few songs to show some real growth in the band since its last release. "Well Enough Alone," the album's first single, starts out sounding like older Chevelle but quickly moves into new territory.

Overall, though, the record recounts many of Chevelle's more lackluster songs on previous albums, extended to the length of a full recording. Nowhere on this album will you find a song with the brilliance of "The Red" or "Vitamin R," Chevelle's popular singles off its earlier albums.

Loeffler, the main creative force behind Chevelle, said on the band's Web site that Vena Sera sounds "more upbeat and positive" and "focuses on a clearer sound" than earlier recordings. While it's true that many of the songs sound more polished and refined in terms of vocal harmonization and guitar, for the most part the album is simply a follow up to previous efforts.

It's somewhat ironic that the name of the album means "Vein Liquid," because it's also a great description of the content: slightly different, but still in the same vein.