Vonassi The Battle of Ego
by Joe Mis
Staff Writer
The Battle Of Ego is the debut release from Chicago based progressive rockers Vonassi. Vonassi is a power trio of multi-talented multi-instrumentalists founded by Jeff Vaughn and Vince Buonassi, now joined by vocalist Chase Carter – and they’ve put together 12 tracks of very technical progressive rock with a bit of indie rock flair.
The trio of Vaughn, Buonassi and Carter are immensely talented, and Vonassi’s music is built primarily around the Buonassi’s bass and Vaughn’s drums. Besides the bass, Buonassi also plays guitars and keyboards. His bass playing is intense and complex, galloping and pounding at points, and then subtle and flowing – he can handle it all. Vaughn’s drums are equally as intense, driving the music forward at times, or stepping aside as needed. He also contributes guitars and keyboards. Carter’s lead vocals are solid, well suited to the style of music – and he contributes some very good lead guitar licks and solos. Vaughn and Buonassi wrote all music and lyrics on the album.
However all is not perfect, so lets get the bad stuff out of the way quickly. As seems to be the case quite often when a talented player decides to be a songwriter, the resulting music is so focused around the player’s specialty that the overall musical “sense” of the album becomes difficult for the casual listener to grasp. That is the case here. While technically brilliant, the music on The Battle Of Ego comes across at times as distant and cold. Chase Carter, although having a great voice, is singing lyrics that he did not write and at times seems uncomfortable or bored – and as a whole the band needs to pump in some backing vocals. Also the lyrics seem somewhat hastily written and some of the rhymes seem forced. On to the musical highlights…
“The Drudge” opens with a pounding bass and drum intro and quickly becomes the best track on the album. With lyrics poking at the drudgery of modern life, the song is energetic and punchy, and features a great guitar solo layered over a very intense rhythm line. “Gini” layers in some mellow keyboards over the rumbling bass, and is an almost power-ballad tribute to the innocence of youth and strength of motherhood. “Beginnings” is perhaps the best of the softer songs, with nicely done keyboards and acoustic guitars, and the strongest lyrics and vocal performances on the disc. “Strong Arm Welfare” is a biting social commentary track with a great gurgling bass line and strong performances all around, while “Posing For The Cold” is a pleasant acoustic song.
“The Battle Of Ego” turns up the intensity again, and features the strongest vocal performance on the disc and is probably the best of the heavier tracks. “Authenticity” opens with a great keyboard and bass piece and builds off the previous track – and the abrupt and odd rhythms allows the bass and drums to really shine. “Open Hands” is a bouncy and upbeat progressive rock tune driven by bass and vocals, while “In The Mirror” is a moodier, lower key rocker with some very nice acoustic guitars and bass. The rhythm section drives “The Now Game”, and a machine gun bass/drum line pushes “Field Of View” and makes it a passable song despite the really forced rhymes. The album wraps with the heavy and pounding 7 minute showpiece “Coiled,” which for some inexplicable reason ends with almost 4 minutes of dead silence bringing the total track time to 11 minutes.
Overall, Vonassi’s debut CD is a very mixed bag. There is plenty of potential and tons of talent here, but the band needs to vary the songwriting styles a bit and jazz up the vocals. As a technical project, the music is flawless, complex and intense – but as a musical project it may be beyond the reach of the casual listener since it all seems to be written as a bass and drum expo, with the overall melody and lyrics a secondary factor. If you are a bassist or a drummer, definitely pick this up – you will be amazed by the talent and technique demonstrated here, but if you are a rock fan looking for a new disc to stick in the car’s CD player, skip it.
Genre: Progressive Rock
Band:
Jeff Vaughn (drums, guitars, keyboards)
Vince Buonassi (bass, guitars, keyboards)
Chase Carter (vocals, lead guitar)
Track Listing:
1. The Drudge
2. Gini
3. Beginnings
4. Strong Arm Welfare
5. Posing For The Cold
6. The Battle Of Ego
7. Authenticity
8. Open Hands
9. In The Mirror
10. The Now Game
11. Field of View
12. Coiled
Label: ProgRock Records
Website: http://www.myspace.com/vonassi , http://www.progrockrecords.com/artists/view.php?id=126
Hardrock Haven rating: 6.5/10