### Verismo: City of kings

#### 28/03/11 || InquisitorGeneralis

Metal that cannot be classified into only one genre can be a beautiful fucking thing; what would you call Mastodon besides totally fucking sweet? Are Opeth folkened death metal? Or just trippy, heavy Swedes? Could you even put Coroner’s masterpiece “Grin” into a single pigeonhole? You’d need around a dozen for that mind-blowing piece of awesome. The final three Death records are certainly not standard death metal, so what the fuck are they? My musical wet dream is a good place to start. However, you can be too all over the place; Luddite Clone anyone?

From a place as mixed up and diverse as New York City, you would expect music that doesn’t fit into one single mold. The three amigos in Verismo certainly follow the heterogeneous ways of their home city, ze Apple Grande. Unfortunately they fail to establish a solid footing before leaping off the cliff of musical variety and style. Let me say this first, “City of Kings” is a pretty decent metal/hard rock album that has hints of everything from Motörhead and Coroner to St. Vitus and Trouble. That’s a nice spread of ingredients, but “City of Kinggus” lacks a strong sense of identity; something even the most successfully genre-spastic metal bands possess.

“Enemy” is an excellent opener and immediately busts out a solid, hardcore influenced groove. Verismo even throws in a funk fill to spice things up. If “City of Kings” was full of heavy hitters like “Enemy” and “City of Kings”, I would have started this review off with an immediate recommendation. The latter track is another heavy, groovy number that features a chanted chorus that definitely reflects the band’s NYC roots. Sometimes the vocals smell a bit like Biohazard mixed with some Danzig. Problems arise though when Verismo move away from the heavier side of the spectrum. The album closer “Legacy” is a soft, melodic pile of poop. Stay hard my brothers, that is where your strengths lie.

Things are pretty much hit or miss after “The last word”; the quality level varies with considerable frequency. While I cannot point out a single song that totally sucks teh nuts, “Field report”, “Hope”, and “Bad day” are all plain unexciting. In terms of musicianship, Verismo are certainly capable players and there are some genuine moments of awesomeness that only a power trio can provide. However, a few sloppy guitar and drum sections plus an inconsistent production really hold these guys back from reaching their true potential.

“City of Kings” is worth checking out, but don’t expect an album that will tickle your nuts for thirty-five straight minutes. There are moments of real, creative excellence on here and Verismo need to really center their sound on the first three songs from here. If they do that, whatever they do next will certainly be on my radar screen.

I am “The Lorax”. I speak for the motherfucking trees.

- Information
- Released: 2007
- Label: Independent
- Website: Verismo MySpace
- Band
- Stephan Laboccetta: guitars, vocals
- Vincent Cruz: bass, backing vocals
- Tamas Vajda: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Enemy
- 02. City of Kings
- 03. The Last Word
- 04. Bad Day
- 05. Moment of Clarity
- 06. The Lorax
- 07. Field Report
- 08. For the Record
- 09. Hope
- 10. Legacy