The Veer Union | Divide the Blackened Sky

by Mark Allen
Staff Writer –

The Veer Union sound a bit more pissed off since their last effort, Against the Grain. Maybe it’s because their label dropped them after just one album. Maybe it’s because two members bid the band adieu at a critical juncture. Or maybe it’s just because they’re from Canada. Whatever the reason, Veer sport an angrier, more aggressive edge on this new outing and it works extremely well.

Granted, The Veer Union do not wander far from the well-defined parameters of the modern hard rock genre, kicking around in the same post-grunge sandbox made popular by Nickelback. Difference is, Veer feature better musicianship and their darker, heavier edge is a welcome change from the booze-and-fellatio obsession of Chad Kroeger and company. Speaking of Kroeger, Veer’s vocalist, Crispin Earl, sounds somewhat similar, but sings better and with greater range. Frankly, a one-line review of this album could simply say The Veer Union sound similar to Nickelback, only better. Some readers just got more excited than a teenage boy getting laid for the first time. Others just threw up in their mouths a little bit. Your call.

Now seems like a good time to discuss the hooks, of which there are legion. Randomly select any point on this album and you’ll find big, fat hooks flying at you like bullets in a warzone. The Veer Union possess a catchiness factor, gifted with the ability to pen anthemic choruses that bristle with commercial credibility but avoid the sugar-pop crassness of many of their contemporaries. While Veer’s overall sound may resemble a heavier-edged Nickelback, their approach to songwriting is more in line with the mastery displayed by Shinedown.

The band’s first single, “Bitter End,” could also serve as their theme song: “I won’t ever / surrender like that / I know better / to ever fall back / I’m feeling born again / I will fight to the bitter end.” And born again is a good way to describe the band, as they sound totally reinvigorated, not only on this song, but the entire album. If the adversity the band endured between their last album and this one made them sound this good, fans should start cold-heartedly praying that the gods afflict them with a thousand tribulations when they record their next one. Just as fire tempers steel, the flames of hardship have strengthened The Veer Union.

Proof of this strength can be found in the songs. Anyone who claims there is filler to be found can be disregarded as readily as a man who claims he watches porn for the plot. The band comes in, wallops out ten great rockers (no ballads on this album), and then have the smarts to not overstay their welcome. As any music fan that has had to give the Skip button a workout in order to get through an album will tell you, ten high quality tunes is better than fifteen tracks of varying quality. And any fan of the modern rock genre would be hard pressed to listen to the mid-tempo distortion of “I Will Remain,” the rapid-fire riffing of “Live Another Day,” or the heavy, clenched-fist headbanging of “Divide the Blackened Sky” and call them subpar in quality.

Simply put, this is one of the best modern hard rock/metal releases of 2012. The band’s previous album was solid enough but lacked that certain something. Whatever that something was, the band has found it by veering off in a slightly heavier direction while retaining ear-catching melodies. The Veer Union suffered blood, bruises, and broken hearts to bring this album to the world. Their pain, your gain.

Genre: Modern Hard Rock

Band:
Crispin Earl (lead vocals)
Eric Schraeder (guitar)
James Fiddler (guitar)
Marc Roots (bass)
Neil Beaton (drums)

Track Listing
1. Borderline
2. Bitter End
3. I Will Remain
4. Buried in the Ground
5. Inside Our Scars
6. Live Another Day
7. Divide the Blackened Sky
8. Silent Gun
9. Last Days of Life
10. Stolen

Webpage: www.theveerunion.com

Label: Rocket Science Ventures

Hardrock Haven rating: 9/10

The Veer Union posts “Borderline” teaser video on YouTube

Vancouver hard rock outfit, The Veer Union, has posted a teaser video for the new track, “Borderline,” taken from the band’s upcoming sophomore album, Divide The Blackened Sky, on YouTube: http://youtu.be/-DYm7DgI2nU.

“Over the last couple of years, we’ve gone through a lot of tough times,” admits vocalist, Crispin Earl. “This song is about that moment where you’re about to snap.”

Although faced with a ton of adversity – including a revolving lineup, label changes and more – The Veer Union’s two mainstays, Crispin Earl and guitarist, Eric Schraeder, have persevered to create Divide The Blackened Sky, a deeply personal collection of infectious modern rock anthems set to release on March 26th via Rocket Science Ventures. Read more

Kansas City Rockfest 2010 LIVE!

May 15, 2010 at Liberty Memorial, Kansas City, MO.

by John Kindred & Shawna McHenry
Staff Writer

Rockfest always is advertised as a festival that keeps the average fan from shelling out wads of money. The organizers, radio station 98.9 The Rock and AEG Live, provide a days’ worth of entertainment with fairly low-cost ticket prices, food and drink prices capped at a maximum of $5 per item and readily available free water.

This year, thunder and rain marked the festival most of the day. Fans made the best of it, enjoying the music despite the lack of sun. This certainly was the one of the coldest and wettest Rockfests to date. Concertgoers have billed the day as “Mudfest 2010” on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Some imaginative fans created a mudslide, and concertgoers who took the journey down the water-soaked hill encased themselves in mud.

Two stages provided the day’s musical entertainment. Fifteen bands followed a predefined rotation that kept the music rumbling throughout the afternoon and well into the evening, which was topped off by fireworks. With this year’s headliner being Godsmack, fans truly were able to embrace some of the day’s popular hard rock and metal bands.

The second stage, sponsored by Monster Energy Drink, was given more attention to make it bigger and better than previous years. The raising of the stage by several additional feet provided crowds a better viewing of the bands. Apparently, this sparked the second stage bands to take their live performances to the next level. The highlight of the day included Airbourne’s front man, Joel O’Keefffe, climbing 20 feet up the stage scaffolding for an old-school guitar solo. Their energy and classic hard rock sound got fans out of the dreary day’s slump and back into a rock festival mood.

The spirited festival event continues to bring an economic boost to the Kansas City area, if only just for a day. The festival also caters to a younger crowd, which maybe wouldn’t have had the income to drop on a more expensive event. However, long lines for frequent food and beverage runs continued to empty wallets. And hanging out with a bone-crushing crowd of 55,000 definitely leads to claustrophobia. In the end, promoters and fans find Rockfest a win/win event.

Main Stage Monster Energy Stage
1:30 – Halestorm
2:40 – Rev Theory
3:50 – Drowning Pool
5:00 – Papa Roach
6:30 – Seether
8:00 – Three Days Grace
9:30 – Godsmack

Monster Energy Stage
12:00 – Taddy Porter
1:00 – Shaman’s Harvest
2:10 – Adelitas Way
3:20 – Burn Halo
4:30 – The Veer Union
6:00 – Janus
7:30 – Airbourne
9:00 – Five Finger Death Punch

Kansas City Rockfest Photo Gallery

Photos appear courtesy of Shawna McHenry and Mitchell Luehring

The Veer Union Against the Grain

by Franco Wissa
Staff Writer

While The Veer Union’s debut, Against the Grain may not cause the rock world to spin on its head banging heels, the boys do a strong job throughout each of these 12 tracks keeping the listener’s attention. Conceivably not enough to propel them into superstardom as it is pretty standard fare, or at least not yet, for this is little here that would make this a standout in today’s hard rock market.

The guitar hooks are huge and do an admirable job in keeping a good accompaniment and the guitar solos, while brief, do show a flair for the 6-string. The rhythm section is just loud enough to drive the music forward, without ever getting in the way and vocalist Crispin does a good job in his attempt to communicate with the public. Time and again it actually sounds like he is spreading a message. While his voice really isn’t that different from many a front man who can be heard today, it must be pointed out that he can sing. And does so well. The sound of the CD is crisp, and the band has done a good job in mixing a blend of both ballads and hard rockers. The lyrics come across as nothing to deep or controversial but they do get their messages across.

Comparisons to Nickleback have been mentioned, and be that as it may, it is obvious that the boys of The Veer Union have tried hard to show the rock world that they are determined, and capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with anyone. CD highlights, “Seasons,” “Youth of Yesterday,” “Final Moment,” “Where I Want to Be,” “Over Me,” and “What Have We Done,” are all examples of this.

That having been said, it is a hope however that the boys of The Veer Union break away from the pack and formulate their own sound, for there is an audible talent here – the band just needs to reach deep within themselves, and find out they are capable of doing more. Sadly a lot of bands, of both today and the past are becoming all too complacent, with each release sounding much like the previous one. And much like other bands of the same sort. Talent is one thing, but a drive to be the best is something different entirely.

While The Veer Union certainly has shown they have the talent and promise, let’s pray that a drive to be the best continues to be heard. A read of the band’s myspace page shows they came by their name from the word “Veer,” meaning “….to change direction from one course to another…” Let’s indeed wish for that, but at least it can be said that they are on the right track.

Label: Universal Records

Track Listing
Seasons
Youth of Yesterday
Over Me
Darker Side of Me
I’m Sorry
Final Moment
Better Believe It
Into Your Garden
Your Love Kills Me
I’m Breathing In
Where I Want To Be
What Have I Done

Band Members:
Crispin – vocals
Eric – guitars, vocals
Fid – guitars
Roots – bass
Neil – drums

HRH Rating: 7.5/10

Kansas City Rockfest Live!

May 30, 2009 Liberty Memorial, Kansas City, Mo.

by John Kindred
Staff Writer

Main Stage
9:30 p.m. – KoRn
8:00 p.m. – Buckcherry
6:30 p.m. – Shinedown
5:00 p.m. – Corey Taylor & the JBKB
3:50 p.m. – Theory of a Deadman
2:40 p.m. – Saving Abel
1:30 p.m. – Rev Theory

Second Stage
9:00 p.m. – Drowning Pool
7:30 p.m. – Duff McKagan’s Loaded
6:00 p.m. – Dope
4:30 p.m. – Parlor Mob
3:20 p.m. – The Veer Union
2:10 p.m. – Burn Halo
1:00 p.m. – Crooked X
12:00 p.m. – Federation of Horsepower

The Good: Newcomers; Burn Halo and Parlor Mob. The new-old-timers Shinedown. Plenty of porta-potties.

The Bad: Long lines at the concession stands. Over-priced beer, food and bottled water. However you present it, $5 per individual food item sucks … one meal per concertgoer easily could be $20. Free water means waiting in line, missing the concert. Purchased water means waiting in line, missing the concert and paying $3 a bottle. The venue is too small, period for 50,000 people.

The Ugly: I (heart) Vagina merchandise. Scantily clad over-weight individuals. Seeing tattoos in places you never would want to look anyway.

The Inside Skinny:

Kansas City radio station, 98.9 The Rock, dubs the event as the biggest one-day rock festival in North America. Kansas City’s annual Rockfest played host to 15 bands and more than 50,000 spectators. Sponsored by vendors such as Miller Lite and Worth Harley Davidson, 98.9’s one-day festival features new and emerging bands along with modern metal mainstays.

Headliners Korn were joined by fellow rockers Buckcherry and Shinedown. Slipknot’s Corey Taylor brought along his solo band The Junk Beer Kidnap Band and performed Stone Sour and obscure songs.

The second stage featured new talent including youngsters Crooked X, new-comers Burn Halo, Parlor Mob and Veer Union, Duff McKagan’s band Loaded, Dope and Drowning Pool.

Unfortunately, the best place to see any of the bands perform was at the Second Stage. Unless you were within 10-15 feet of the main stage barrier and you were of modest height, there was no way to see any live action. There were two video screens placed a few hundred yards from the stage, but they were stationed to the right of the venue and benefited few.

Observations of the day included bands moving away from Screamo-metal. Almost all the participating bands featured singing vocalists. Guitar solos are slowly creeping back into rock music. Bands continue to show influences from the ‘70s.

Highlights:

Burn Halo, led by vocalist James Hart, launched into their 40-minute set and performed songs from their new self-titled album. They performed their current radio hit “Dirty Little Girl,” “Save Me,” as well as “Gasoline” and “Dead End Roads & Lost Highways.”

Hailing from New Jersey, Parlor Mob’s music features a nostalgic ‘70s-inspired vibe. The band has a vibrant energy that feels raw and spontaneous. Touring in support of the debut album debut album And You Were A Crow on Roadrunner Records, this is a band to keep on eye on.

The Shinedown set included a majority of their hits. Brent Smith and company had the crowd eating out of their hands as they directed fans to the pulsating beat of their music. Performing hit after hit, the band is sure on top of their game. Fans were treated to “Devour,” “Sound of Madness,” “Second Chance,” “.45,” “Fly From the Inside” and “Save Me.”

Crooked X features four youths hailing from Oklahoma. Young, these kids are 15 years old! Their 10-song debut was released on MPM/EMI/Capitol in January, and the band already has opened for Kiss and Ted Nugent. This is another band to keep an eye out for. Crooked X has plenty of energy and talent as well song-writing skills.

Rockfest 2009 Photo Gallery

Photos by John Kindred/Shawna McHenry.