Review from the Accidental Blog:

"In the interest of full disclosure, I don’t have the vocabulary to adequately describe how incredibly futuristic and musically-accomplished this leading heavier-than-hell rock (for lack of a better word) band is, but I’ll give it a whirl... 

Luke Destefano, Tom Orza, Chris Enriquez, and newcomer- Chris “Bigs” Bigley form the always-sensational super-prog band- Villa Vina, located in the heart of New York City.  Centered around Luke’s guitarist extraordinaire virtuosity, these post-rock/deconstructionist illuminati employ difficult time signatures, loud and soft aural dichotomies for sonic tension, wacky dub excursions and trance-like monotone vocals to flesh out their intellectual sound.  As a matter of fact, these guys are all so smart that Villa Vina should be considered dangerous.  Several of their songs are well over six minutes as their debut record- COLONY COLLAPSE embraces extended instrumental passages, spoken word recitations and other hallmarks of experimental music.  The band’s jagged signature guitar sound, comparable to the early Robert Fripp days of 1970, is occasionally offset with insanely barbaric polyrhythmic drumming, lock down tighter-than-hell bass grooves, and classical piano segue-ways reminiscent of Yes, early Genesis and ELP.  Soothing one minute and disconcerting the next, this is challenging listening but well worth the effort.  

"Sadly, as much as I listen to and love COLONY COLLAPSE, this five-song EP doesn’t measure up to Villa Vina’s usual musically-chaotic live performances (I strongly, strongly, recommend catching this band in action!  Their live shows scare the shit out of me!), but the band might’ve been rushed to release this EP, as there are fragments of their full capabilities.  “Stone and Halo Part II” and “Release the Hounds!” offer a glimmer of exhilaration, unworldly energy, and inventive compositional derangement, but then the EP plateaus.  I assume, this was intentional, as if to leave the listener to want more, a multi-monstrosity of a brain-teaser, Villa Vina competes for the heavyweight title of the New York City rock ensembles.  I cannot stress this enough- SEE THIS BAND LIVE, SEE THIS BAND LIVE, you’ll thank me for the suggestion...  (A+)"

http://theaccidentalgenius.blogspot.com 

Review from OH MY ROCKNESS

"NYC's Villa Vina are a heavy band that likes to sludge their riffs up and likes their bass to boom so low it may disturb your bowels. Well, perhaps that last statement is a tad dramatic. But still, they tend to rock out rather nicely. 

Fine, sometimes Villa Vina get a little proggy and, sure, sometimes they get all quiet and do that pretty guitar thing too. They may even get out the sample machine and see what it knows every now and then. But those little interludes are ultimately just preludes to one big fat metal salute, man! 

The band of four merry men (I assume they're merry... rocking out is fun, after all) is led by Luke Destefano and also features a couple of ex-On The Might Of Princes fellows (a band all you Long Islanders and tiny independent-documentary-film lovers may remember). Bands should rock out more." 

Review of our CMJ performance from Deli Magazine!

"Again I went back down stairs, my thighs are really sore from going up and down the stairs and I hope that this exercise will mean I don't have to jump rope for at least a month. Downstairs was my last band of the night, Villa Vina, a four-piece whose heavy, driving music is played by really clean cut dudes, which isn't that weird but I mean, the last heavy band did have a front man with a mustache that took up half his face. Villa Vina's sound twisted back and forth between a heavier, very bass-influenced side to a lighter, clang-ier sound with flittering guitar parts. There was a little Foo Fighters influence in there somewhere while some songs even verged a little on dance rock. It really was quite a mix, a little hard to keep track of because it ranged so much in sound, but versatility is good and Villa Vina is full of it.

After that, I took track of my heartbeat, which was blast beating and I went back to Brooklyn for the night. I definitely had some more power napping to do before my next big day at CMJ."

- Colter McCorkindale

Review from The Deli Magazine

"Progressive rock (or "math rock" for those who don't want to sit next to Geddy Lee) has been called a lot of things, but "catchy" has rarely been one of them. Take a few spins with Villa Vina, particularly "Mighty Iron Giants," and you'll find yourself humming and drumming their tunes later on when you leave the apartment to get dinner. Less frenetic and more musically meaty than The Mars Volta, their sound is rooted more in the science of King Crimson than the howling of early Rush or Yes. Throw in the pounding percussion and clean guitar angularity of Don Caballero and you've got yourself an exciting sound that's dense enough for the mathletes and rocking enough for the wrestling team. The band will play thier CMJ show at The Delancey on 10.23 at 12 am". - Colter McCorkindale