NEVENA – Nevena

This debut album by vocalist Nevena came out late last year via Frontiers and is in many ways a mixture of melodic hard rock and AOR. The Serbian singer has teamed up with songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Michael Palace, which is a great move on paper, but while the two of them are undoubtedly talented musicians, this particular offering sounds and feels too generic and musically safe, and there is very little here that truly stands out. Despite the good and competent musicianship, things rarely gel on the disc, and the compositions lack depth and longevity. ‘Bad Sun Rising’ is a great tune that boasts meaty riffs, blistering solos, cool vocal melodies, and variety, but I really do wish that the record had contained a few more gripping affairs such as this one. In short, the filler material outweighs the quality stuff, which is a damn shame, but hopefully the next one will be better and less forgettable than the 2022 output.