I've always look at Chicago’s Veil of Maya as one of the better shred-styled modern metal bands, from their 2006 debut to the overlooked Sumerian release, The Common Man’s Collapse. While other bands like Periphery seems to be getting an awful lot of attention, [id] has its moments as well as its downfalls.
With one part Meshuggah, one part Between the Buried and Me and a whole lot of A Life Once Lost, Veil of Maya's stumbling, lurching style is glued together by the melodic injections of original members Mark Akubo and drummer Sammy Applebaum, both of whom serve in melodic death metal act Insurrection and it shows. Vocalist Brandon Butler gives the material its burly edge with some deep growls and occasional screams.
Songwise, [id] isn’t about verse-chorus structures, but rather a string of moments that form a disruptive but still cohesive noise that will upset fans of stuttering, stop-start metal and have Veil of Maya lumped in with the many deathcore acts that are skilled musicians but terrible songwriters. And to some extent, that’s true, as there are a few moments in [id] that will warrant repeated play--but after a few listens, the dedicated will discover a sublime sense of prose lurking under all the scattershot riffage. After numerous listens, the likes of “Unbreakable,” “The Higler,” “Resistance,” “Conquer” and “Codex” break free from the noisy jagged rumble of “Dark Passenger,” “Martyrs," “Mowgli” and “Namaste” and don’t seem to be simply pointless noodling as many of their peers do, but instead feature some subtle harmonies interwoven within the chaos--highlighting the band's melodeath roots plied through a tech-metal filter.
At 30 minutes and with 3 instrumentals, [id] plays like a long EP rather than a full-length album, but at least there is no post-rock experimentation or 13-minute ambient tracks (though the band dabbles in some light programming here and there). Veil of Maya is aware of their strengths and plays to them perfectly.
