I differ from a lot of The Cruel Intentions fanbase in that I didn’t listen to Vains Of Jenna until after I heard the debut album from The Cruel Intentions: No Sign Of Relief, As much as I like Singer/Guitarist Lizzy DeVine’s old band I REALLY love his current one. The Cruel Intentions first album was a from start to finish rock n roll sledgehammer, an incendiary cocktail of hard rock, punk, and sleaze metal that kicked the listener’s ass and left you dying for more. I have played the hell out of that album and it never gets old.
The second album drops on June 3rd and trust me when I say you need this album, As great as the first album is it has nothing on Venomous Anonymous. This album is bigger and better in every possible way, plus it’s a vastly more diverse album musically than it’s predecessor.
“Reapercussion” comes roaring out of the speakers with an energetic, hard rocking anthem that connects to the aggressive style of the first album while also showcasing the grander sonic ambition this album achieves. That’s followed by “Venomous Anonymous” which is a powerful mid tempo rocker that will make a KILLER live song that the audience will be shouting along to.
“Sunrise Over Sunset” wears it’s sunset strip influences on it’s sleeve, an energetic hard rocking song perfect for a great night out and the guitar solo in it is awesome!
“Casket Case” really lets you feel the great rhythm section in this band, this song has some incredible driving rhythms and is one of my favorites on the album. The playing on this album is exceptional, and each instrument shines with incredible skill and tone, kudos to whoever mixed this album because it’s perfectly balanced.
“Kerosene” really is a very 80s melodic rock inspired anthem, the melodies on this song are positively infectious.
One of the many great things about music is that you don’t need to understand the language of a song to appreciate how great it is, I don’t speak Swedish but that doesn’t even matter because “Salt I Ditt Sår” is a positively stunning song, musically somewhere between a melodic rock radio single and a power ballad.
One thing that amazes me is how Lizzy’s voice has only gotten better, he still has the raspy voice he’s known for but I think on this album he really shows greater power and range.
“Final Deathroll” with its charging riffs and gang vocals sounds very Hardcore Superstar inspired, the guitar solo on this is awesome! The guitar playing on this album in general is on another level. “Goddamn Monday” is a fantastic driving hard rock song about living hard, living with the fallout of it, and living to do it all again. A rock n roll anthem. “Bad Vibes” give me slight Tom Petty vibes but filtered through this bands harder edge and again the guitar solo here is just incredible.
“Chemical Vacation” is a great charging rocker with great rhythms. “City Of Lice” ends the album on an energetic high with another hard rocking song with gang vocals.
The Cruel Intentions have put out one of the best albums in a year stacked with great ones, this is easily the best album Lizzy has ever done, everything works here and the artistic evolution is leaps and bounds above their first album. The song writing is airtight and there isn’t a single dull moment on the album, Lizzy’s voice sounds better than ever, the guitar playing is incredible, it’s over the top where it needs to be and aggressive where needed as well, melody reigns supreme here. One thing I think should be said is how great a drummer Robin Nilsson is, his playing on this album is really good and the drum sounds are so well recorded it reminds me how a great drummer sounds at a concert, powerful and technical.
Venomous Anonymous is a must have album which further cements this bands place among the best of the modern hard rock movement.
10/10