It s been seven years since I first heard Pa Capona from the Lausanne based band Ventura. It s amazing that it s already been that long because there is in no way that I feel like it s been that long ago. At that time I couldn t say enough good things about the bands debut, as it channeled mid-90 s alterna/indie-rock so very well with big riff oriented songs that combined a very distinct Midwesterny sound/songwriting construction..somewhat in the area of long time Champaign, IL favs Hum. As good as that album was, it s always concerning as to where or if a band is going to progress. More often than not you run into stagnation...inevitably rehashing what was accomplished in the beginning. Ventura proved that to be of no concern when they released their second album We Recruit through Africantape four years later. An album that pushed forward with an increased level of songwriting instead of getting hung up on what they d already done, showing that these guys were in fact not slaves to their influences being willing to experiment with sprawling lengthier songs and even dabbling slightly in a poppier sound at times. I think when I wrote about that album, I mentioned that there was a noticeable The God Machine vibe to where they were going, which was no surprise considering that they had been known to cover the bands epic track The Flower Song live. Now, Ventura has returned with their third album Ultima Necat, which I believe once again shares a strong similarity to The God Machine, both in mood and approach. With Ultima Necat, it may mark an even larger step forward than what they managed to do with their previous album. Things have been slowed down, tempo wise for the band. There is certainly a touch of post-rock type structure to what they are doing with many of the tracks on Ultima Necat, willing to work more with a slow burning wash of guitars and wave like riffs that crash and repeat. The key factor to it being as effective as it turns out of to be is that Ventura have in no way lost touch with the rock part of it all. Even so with it being as evident as is it is on the album of a near constant theme of sorrow and mourning. There were of course touches of this throughout the groups two previous efforts...at least lyrically, yet they were always contrasted with songs that didn t often share the same sensibility. With Ultima Necat, the band has chosen to take the full plunge of mood driven rock, and it s almost a wonder as to why the never did before as it was always apparent that they could just as easily speak through their instruments just as well as they could through lyrics. With the two coming together on this album, it creates a whole other landscape of rock that hadn t been heard from the band before. On a track like the absolutely brilliant Intruder , the subtle shifts in tone to the melody before diving into its climactic ending is just perfectly placed, simple as that, changing the whole energy/mood of the song. The melodies and riffs throughout the album aren t as cut and dry, with sounds that tend to blur together more so than I think I ve heard before on their albums. There are even times where they kind of touch upon a shoegaze sort of note, especially with the final track Exquisite & Subtle , which is nearly a straight up homage to the genre and it s actually kind of scary at how good they are at it...sounding far better than many bands who have spent years driving that sound into the ground. It says plenty to their level of talent and creative drive that they are able to adopt this into their sound and make it work as well it does. One of the better albums I ll hear all year, I m sure. It s been a pleasure to hear these guys move forward with each release. Built On A Weak Spot