Ventura – Ultima Necat CD

Ventura – Ultima Necat CD

"An imperfect masterpiece, Ventura’s Ultima Necat comes steeped in 90s alt-rock majesty, but after a mesmerizing A-side, loses its way a bit when trying to transition to other states and emotions.

I’m getting a Latin translation when I look up the album title, as part of a phrase: “Vulnerant omnes, ultima necat;” – every hour wounds, the last kills. As, to my ears, a drawn out relationship review, that translation fits: Ventura’s nine songs on this album do a tour of inflictions between one and another, and this does track through that stylistic shift (which I appreciate), but when the music should be swelling, it feels more diluted. This is partially preference, but also in the “warmth” with which the album is produced, which moreso favors the harder rock and shoegaze of the B-side, but is also what makes the more paced explorations on the A-side feel more emotionally penetrative, as the group feels almost trapped in their compositions and the recording, and that struggle is an amazing component. The relative release of the remainder of the tracks feels a bit more like normal indie rock by comparison.

But where we start: oh, man, this is gold. I’m reminded of the kind of restraint of something like Codeine, though I don’t mean to suggest that Ultima Necat is slowcore, at all. It’s a rather broad sound, though it is rooted in that era, swinging through guitar noise and a contemplative singing style – gentle and haunted. Though the subject matter isn’t original, the kind of patient, step-by-step exploration of it gives it weight.

And then there’s the centerpiece and changeup: Amputee is a long, loud bit of post-rock bravado, and it’s also the weakest piece on the album. Everything preceding it already has such impact, trying to represent that more directly through a build-and-release style track feels like a slight misstep at this point, or perhaps a disappointing half-step: making the divide even more dramatic would’ve helped. The following couple tracks move our indie rock into 00s era muscley, hooky guitars; the narrative is coming to a conclusion, and the songs are sharpening up as a result. Good songs, but again, somewhat less interesting and grabbing.

These are, individually, very intriguing ingredients. And I respect the scope of the album; it starts off epic and that sensibility wavers over the lesser-epic moments to leave a nice spell over the listen, certainly enough so to continue digging in, and appreciating the passion and intention behind the performance." - Vaguely Offensive