Vega
Grit Your Teeth

Vega happens to be one of the brightest shining stars in the Hallowed night skies with high ratings for their previous three albums, averaging over 5/7, the Hallowed average is just below 4/7 over the several thousand albums we have reviewed to date. For this sixth album Vega are gritting their teeth like a crocodile, and according to the label they will blow the roof off. It is not often that labels are right in such assessments, but I wonder if they aren’t this time. Vega has pulled out all the stops and let go of the brakes completely to create an album that is rewarding and challenging and while they claim to not need perfection, I wonder if they haven’t achieved something close to perfection with Grit Your Teeth.

They say that they want to lose the AOR shackles that have been put on them, and they probably do in a way. The music is heavy, powerful and fast, of course it is still melodic and catchy and there will probably still be people labelling them as AOR, but I don’t they are the throwback they don’t want to be. Their music is modern and powerful, Nick Workman is singing brilliantly, and the memorable hooks and choruses will be with the listener long after the album has ended. The production is excellent; with some rough edges as well as strong melodies and energy. They have really let go of the brakes for this album, and I would say that they have managed to freshen up their soundscape a bit. This album also shows a sensible playing time as well as really good variation, and the cover is quite telling as well.

This album is quite excellent, brilliant in fact. Vega does most everything right with great songs, great energy, fresh sound and everything else you need if you want to create a good album. The songs are all very strong and I don’t see any weaknesses here, it is quite magical. The start with Blind and (I Don’t Need) Perfection is probably my favourite part but Consequence of Having a Heart and when they say “This One’s For You” you can’t help but enjoying a song for yourself. All the way through the albums they bring out great stuff and sure it may not be reinventing anything, but it is fresh enough to be interesting and great enough to stand head and shoulders above the competition – a really great album.

At this very moment I can only see one album released this year that is better than this one, I know of one really interesting release in September but otherwise it is a good chance that Vega’s new album will shine as brightly on the Hallowed skies as it does in the night skies. The second brightest star in the northern night skies and the second greatest album right now, that’s a coincident for you. And that is enough said, there is no reason not to check out this album, one of the highlights of 2020 and it really cements Vega as one of the best bands out there.

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