Review Summary: A solid album with a re-birth in sound.
Veil Of Maya has been really blending in the Sumerian scene for awhile and I haven't really heard much from them or their progress on producing the next album, so since I have all this time on my hands with this band I might as well review their latest release "Matriarch" which came out last year.
If you know this band at all you should know that their previous vocalist, Brandon, left the band because of "creative differences" (Whatever the *** that means). Anyway this however didn't really affect the band that much because he left right as their touring was over. Months pass and there isn't that much news on the band until they announce their upcoming album through a "Breaking Bad" parody video. We are introduced to Lukas, the band's new vocalist. This is when the tables are turned on the band because this new guy does clean vocals. All of my life listening to VOM in the past I never would have thought that they would go this route in their creative process. I took the whole thing with a grain of salt.
A while later, the band posts up a new music video titled "Mikasa". I was very anxious to hear the bands new sound and to be honest a little nervous as well because I was so used to Brandon's sound. When I first heard lukas' voice I was blown away by what I was hearing. This guy managed to pull off cleans while also giving out powerful screams. The rest of the band had their signature sound and i'm glad they didn't stray from that, but my ears were focused on the singer mainly. I did some more research to find their single "Phoenix". I listened to this as well and I heard a more raw version on his voice, and I was impressed. I was also glad to hear Brandon on this song as well, a great treat to have on this album.
When I listen to Veil now it's a lot different then what it used to be for me, some reason I still like listening to their old stuff because that is just the era I liked. Matriarch as a whole is a fantastic album, it is most likely their most melodic as well considering the clean vocals implemented. As far as the cleans go i'm not that butt-hurt about it as others were. I can recall a lot of rage and bitterness against the band for having this guy join but to be honest, it doesn't really bother me that much.
I would like to talk about the music now, i'm really focused on drums as well. Drums in this have a whole new sound, it's very deep and echo-like resonance that I feel really pulls in with the whole vibe of the album. Guitar is also an honorable mention as well, Marc has decided to move up from a 6 to a 7-string guitar; this makes the music sound a whole lot lower and more fine compared to his 6-string days. Bass flows through this album like gold through a refinery, very hard hitting and is beautiful at some parts like the tapping bridge in "Lucy", another good song off this album. Taylor Larson helped produce this album by the way, he's in a band called "From First To Last". I think he did a great job, it sounds very clean and well put together, very little hiccups.
All in all I think this is a great album, I have little complaints about it. I could note that the vocalist should work a little more on his screams, but I will let it slide. Another note about the vocals is that it kind of reminded me of Spencer from Periphery. This kind of bummed me out that Veil didn't have a signature sound as far as vocals go, but it's not bothering me that much to rant about it. One last note is I heard that apparently Jason Richardson (Ex Chelsea Grin/BOO guitarist) played in "Teleute" but it didn't really notice anything while listening to it, but I must give credit where credit is due. This is a fairly lengthened album, a solid 36:03, perfect for any listener in my opinion, not too long or too short. Veil Of Maya hasn't let me down yet, I am very excited to see what is in store for their next release.
