Formed in 2016 in Linz in Upper Austria VENATOR plays NWOTHM style Heavy Metal. You need to expect a sound that will take time for you to adjust to. Unless you are still stuck in the eighties, and you are still fully accustomed to the way the music came out of your speakers during of that era. Since their start VENATOR has been active, but not too prolific. In 2020 they released the EP “Paradiser” and took part in a split CD with ANGEL BLADE. The debut album “Echoes From The Gutter” was let loose on us, the Metal audience, in 2022. I have to admit that I haven’t heard any of those releases. Their sophomore album “Psychodrome” will become available to the public on April 25, 2025 and is the album that I will be reviewing in the following paragraphs.

Let me start by mentioning that after my inauguration period I got the gist of the music on “Psychodrome” and I thoroughly started to enjoy what VENATOR brings to the turntable. Like I mentioned earlier, you will be transported back in time, as the music as well as the sound was already acceptable some 40 years ago. But, don’t get fooled by my words, there is nothing wrong with the production on “Psychodrome”. The sound is crisp and clear, the songs get the chance to shine as much as their quality allows, making this album a very pleasant and easy one to listen to. The first full song “Steal the Night” has a bit of a Q5 vibe to it, and just because of the title. That stays in the back of your mind all the time. It is due to the rhythms and guitar sound, but you will also be able to name a succession of US Metal bands that pop up all along the 43 minutes that you can enjoy “Psychodrome”.

As for the songs themselves, they are varying from okay up and until rather good. You don’t expect to hear anything new or life changing, and you won’t, but you also won’t be disappointed by the quality level of the songs that VENATOR are ladling upon our Metal plate. Every song has its own individuality, its own uniqueness, whilst they all fit in together like a house on fire. That makes “Psychodrome” an album that might not give you new insights, but it will emphasise that even after so many years a sound from way back when can be just the ticket for an album. VENATOR has proven that with “Psychodrome”. Well done!