Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Swift Tracks: Valeyra and In Fair Verona

By Brenna Rushing

On Friday, a CD release show is being played for Valeyra, with In Fair Verona opening for them. Other bands include Belle Epoque, The Monarch, and The News Can Wait.

Both bands are a part of the rock family, adding screaming as the extra edge. But a big difference is that one of the bands falls under the Christian sector.

In Fair Verona has two goals in their band, to play their music and become well known, and to spread their beliefs.

The usual idea of a Christian band has evolved over time. It is no longer the keyboard and band playing praise songs to get everyone on their feet. In Fair Verona is in your face, screaming their lungs out telling you how they feel about God.

In the song "A Question You Can Ask Yourself", the lead singer, Junior Hernandez, screams his heart out showing his fervent for their message. He has strong vocals, which blend flawlessly with the well-played guitar and drums.

Although the song starts off with accoustic strums, don't let it fool you! It is full out electric guitar the rest of the way. Junior's voice definitely dominates the song. He makes you listen to his range, listening to every word he's belting out.

The track can be found on their EP, which the song is titled for. They are kicking off a summer tour, “Fun Under the Sun” on June 26th at the Door in Fort Worth.

Valeyra has a heavier sound, packed with more screaming.

Gage Young

Valeyra

One of their new tracks off their upcoming new album, "Caught In A Rhyme", is hard to understand at times. The screaming is almost too consistent, so their lyrics don’t come through. Some fans ears seem to be trained to understand this foreign language, but I am not one of them.

Their guitar players sound like they’ve been playing together forever. They have a very strong presence in the song, which could cause some rockin' head bobs at times.

At the very end of the track, they added sections of rapid instrumentals, which helped bring even more energy to the conclusion. The guitar has heavy strums making it sound darker, while the drums pick up the tempo. The fact that they included those helped make a more solid stamp in my memory than was already there.

The bands’ CD release party will be at the Aardvark on Friday, June 13th. They are also playing many shows this summer across the country.

Related stories

• Pegasus News Week in View: Friday the 13th Father’s Day Edition (June 12, 2008)

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• Arts > Popular Music > Christian
• Arts > Popular Music > Rock