Album Review: Black Veil Brides – Vale (Republic Records)

American glam rock band, Black Veil Brides are back with their fifth album, Vale. Released on January 12th 2018 via Republic Records.

If you’re looking for bland, bouncy American rock then Vale is perfect for you. Black Veil Brides have plenty of talent it’s just not really on show here.

The Last One is about as lifeless as a corpse. Ticking every rock box going. This could be any band. From the “oh-woah-oh-oh” lyrics, the repetitive rhythm, the boring chorus…it’s just so pointless.

Black Veil Brides don’t do themselves many favours with track after track of radio-friendly rock that only elects shoulder-shrugs & ‘meh’ reactions. The Last One at least has a bit of bounce in its chorus but it’s followed by the horrendous When They Call My Name. The first ballady song, even the guitar solo sounds like it was ripped from a YouTube tutorial on how to add a solo to your track.

Vale isn’t a terrible album though as the heavier groove of The Outsider shows & Andy Biersack’s vocals hold up. It’s just a pity that his voice is wasted on repeating the same lyric over & over again or the many, many “woah-oh-oh-oh” parts.

It’s far to hit & miss overall forcing you to scratch around for things to enjoy about it. This isn’t an album you’d want to or need to listen to more then once to take it all in. The word that constantly comes to mind is shallow.

Dead Man Walking (Overture II) sets the bar for what is the worst song on the album. So boring that you can almost hear the band falling asleep as they play. Horrible effects, a laughable air-grabbing solo vocal moment & somehow it’s over 8 minutes long. When it does come to life to briefly deliver a blistering injection in pace it’s too little too late.

If you’ve not turned Vale off after that shocker, Black Veil Brides do little to bring their doubters back around as Our Destiny sounds way to familiar already. Even more “oh-oh-oh-woah” moments show just how little imagination is on this record.

While listening to Vale you’ll end up getting a strong feeling of fustration as there are flashes…moments where things seem like they’re going somewhere good. More often then not it inevitably ends in the sound of a wet fart. One such track is The King of Pain that gets so much right with its crunching drum beat, memorable riffing & exciting effects but throws it all away with a face-palmingly bad chorus & utterly pointless guitar solo.

My Vow is BVB turning it up for a much heavier beat, a good track but for those god-damn choruses & “woah-oh-ohs”. Ballad of Lonely Hearts is a highlight that delivers some wicked rock riffs & a foot-tapping gang-vocal finale. Throw the First Stone’s machine gun riffing & Manson-esqe vocal moments are let down by yet another horrid chorus.

The album finishes off with Vale (This is Where it Ends) & it’s something of a relief.

This is the sound of a band not even trying to come up with something memorable. This is the sound of complacency.

Black Veil Brides – Vale Full Track Listing:

1. Incipiens Ad Finem
2. The Last One
3. Wake Up
4. When They Call My Name
5. The Outsider
6. Dead Man Walking (Overture II)
7. Our Destiny
8. The King of Pain
9. My Vow
10. Ballad of Lonely Hearts
11. Throw the First Stone
12. Vale (This is Where it Ends)

Check it out yourself below via Apple Music.