Rivel Records August of 2004 fourth Veni Domine album The Album Of Labour offers much of the experimental and outside the box thinking as 1998 Thunderload third Spiritual Wasteland only in a more focused package. Each album stays true to the orchestral progressive doom metal to 1992 R.E.X. debut Fall Babylon Fall and Massacre Records second Material Sanctuary from 1994, but diverge with greater emphasis on atmospheric passages and heavier keyboards to create a moodier and more melancholic sound. Whereas Spiritual Wasteland saw Veni Domine abbreviating its signature epic length songwriting into the five to six minute range with the occasional song in excess of seven, The Album Of Labour truncates things further with many tracks walking a fine line between four and five minutes and only several exceeding six. That said in my opinion The Album Of Labour is the superior work by taking accessibility to the next level found in stronger melodies and more memorable choruses, keeping in mind I think highly of Spiritual Wasteland in light of my 90% review.
Despite the writing process starting in 1997 and recording the fall of 2000, Veni Domine was forced to delay the release to The Album Of Labour by several years. First, front man Fredrik Ohlsson became ill with a vocal condition that gave the group no option than to defer recording indefinitely. Second, Veni Domine switched to Rivel Records when after completing the final mix, its label at the time repeatedly pushed back the release date. Guitarist Torbjorn Weinesjo best sums things during an online interview back in the day when he suggests, ‘I humbly believe that there's a reason for this album to come out and it's a spiritual reason. I said it before, to me this album is a war in the spiritual world, and that's where Veni Domine should be’.1
An out of print and hard to find collectors item, The Album Of Labour was re-mastered and reissued by Retroactive Records on CD (June 1, 2026 release) and vinyl (July 15, 2026). Updated cover art with layout and design including the groups original 2004 write up attributes to Scott Waters (NLTM Records) and improved re-mastering to Rob Colwell. Re-mastering brings out the best in already very good production, bestowing a layer of refinement lending to warmer guitar signatures, added sinew to low end and keyboards with better distinction.
Initial cut “Waiting For The Bloodred Sky” embodies all that makes The Album Of Labour such a special release. It stays true to the Veni Domine doom metal crunch and progressive aesthetics - noting occasional time signatures to a decelerated form - but elevates exponentially the engaging components, specifying the signature huge chorus hook. Of equal import is manner in which Ohlsson vocally reaches for the sky with the best of them.
“Eli Lema Sabachtani” points to the newfound Veni Domine atmospheric and keyboard orienting. Song drubs through its distortion filled verse section to industrial style keyboards and vocals at a diminished place in the mix, not revitalizing until vocals and guitar elevate for the delightfully absorbing refrain with an ornate edge. Imagine a Gothic tinged Theocracy. Lyric snippet:
I'm addicted to the news that delivers
Hell and massive pain
A feast for evil, mankind sleeping
Far beyond our walls they're weeping
Spirit's shy I wonder why
Eli lema sabachtani
Wind will cry as we deny
Eli lema sabachtani
Aptly entitled “Doom Of Man” starts to an unearthly bass solo prior to impelling ahead, disconsolate and downcast as melancholic overtures dictate but also not backing from the harsher intent realized in the austere backing vocals and unyielding guitars. Once more, implacable hooks subjugate despite the forlorn singularities.
“River Of Life II” touches upon a sullenly morose progressiveness. Song meanders its first minute in dour fashion, escalating as steely guitar bounds in to build upon the forbidding virtues only to diminish back to an unsettled form. Final minute compels to sullen backing vocals repeating the phrase ‘Let Him’. At just four and half minutes, this one proves you do not have to extend into protracted songwriting to be progressive. Lyric snippet:
The angel said to me:
These words are trustworthy and true
The Lord, the God
Of the spirits of the prophets
Sent his angel to show
His servants the things
That must soon take place
Behold, I am coming soon
Blessed is he who keeps the words
Of the prophecy in this book
“Inner Circle” diverges with the more enterprising tempo while retaining the unflinching doom like intentions. Reverberating bass actuates the brooding verse sections and Ohlsson’s topmost falsettos the kinetic (and powerfully catchy) refrain. Bluesy is the impression to the distorted instrumental moments.
“Deep Down Under” is first of two cuts in the six-minute range. Song crawls at a sedate pace, substantiating the Gothic tinged themes realized in the uncanny keyboards and boding sentiments but also the absorbing as another unearthly melody of an invariable capability draws in. Interestingly, at the halfway point temper briefly kicks in to an athletic form only to dissolve for the portentous soloing covering the closing minutes. Lyric snippet:
My disbelieving numb like stones
The fire that once begun is still aglow
The famous space inside the human race
Is not over until we change our ways
I fell down before his feet
A sinner willing to proclaim his defeat
I knew he saw through all my lies
I was judge through the tears in His eyes
“The Healing The Mystery” impresses as doom on the commercial side. Subsequent to a wondrous keyboard solo opening - I cannot say enough good things about the work of Mattias Cederlund - song labors to bleak guitars indicating of the foreboding. When compulsion picks up, it is for a surprisingly exuberant refrain with lithe appeal off the charts: the ‘see my fears go away as you taught me to pray, the healing, the mystery’ phrasing proves incontestable! Snarling aggression imparts the final seconds of what is nothing less a classic.
“River Of Life IIII”, three minutes of swirling keyboards and spacey guitars interwoven with Revelation chapter 22 themed lyrics, leads the way to “Voice Of Creation”. Song picks up heaviness, as sculpted rhythm guitar and distorted bass deliver a calamitous blow and cascading harmonies the brilliant hooks to command on first listen. Bottom drops out for the incorporeal lead guitar imparted instrumental moments. Lyric snippet:
Airwaves confirm you known by your name
Register movements it's like a computer game
Information overload - pipelines to my brain
Is my inside to explode - none to keep me sane
Implanted disbelieves fulfilled damnation
Improve and then deceive
Voice of creation will revenge
Not even one word of integrity
“Healers Face” is a creatively varied piece. It contrasts between delicately unsubstantial high melody driven passages and those of an accelerated form under sway of catchy guitar riffs. Upshot is a dramatic if not borderline anthem like appeal or at the very least, the closest any of the albums material comes to power metal.
Album closes to lone epic in the eight-minute “River Of Life I”. What we have is another creative track, hovering its first three minutes to wistful guitar with a periodic voice speaking in what sounds like Latin but sloughing to inclement rhythm guitar to preserve the Gothic tinged mournful compelling. Final half is instrumental as bluesy feedback and disconsolate soloing joins with the Latin voice to complete the uneasy picture. Lyric snippet:
Then the angel showed me
The river of the water of life
As clear as crystal,
Flowing from the throne of god
And of the lamb down the middle
Of the great street of the city
On each side of the river
Stood the tree of life
On The Album Of Labour, Veni Domine brilliant at interweaving its material with intricate progressive virtues but without going over the top in terms of epic length songwriting. Key is the engaging quality to albums material in that each song brings that uniquely catchy riff, mesmerizing melody or embracing chorus to separate from the rest and avoid any repetitious pitfalls. There is simply not a down musical moment here. Lone potential constructive comment is that perhaps the group could have delivered at least one additional track in excess of seven minutes, but songwriting quality is such any protracted proclivity is unnecessary. In the end, The Album Of Labour ranks among my favorite turn of the century albums: if a fan of Veni Domine or melodic doom metal with a progressive founding, the Retroactive reissue with upgraded re-mastering and packaging is a necessary purchase.
Review by: Andrew Rockwell
Track Listing: “Waiting For The Bloodred Sky” (4:59), “Eli Lema Sabachtani” (5:11), “Doom Of Man” (4:31), “River Of Life II” (4:20), “Inner Circle” (4:29), “Deep Down Under” (6:10), “The Healing The Mystery” (6:17), “River Of Life IIII” (3:18), “Voice Of Creation” (4:22), “Healers Face” (5:06), “River Of Life I” (7:56)
Musicians
Fredrik Ohlsson - Lead Vocals
Torbjorn Weinesjo - Guitars
Mattias Cederlund - Keyboards
Gabriel Ingemarson - Bass
Thomas Weinesjo – Drums
Reference List
1. “Veni Domine - Interview”. Retrieved: 5/22/2026
