Riff Police! Pull Over! #19: Vein Vs Slipknot!

There has been much talk of Vein being part of a wave of emerging bands called “the new saviours of Hardcore” following the release of their highly anticipated Will Putney produced album “Errorzone” via Closed Casket Activities. It’s a strange title, especially when a band like Code Orange appears to be leading the charge. Is the music of these bands considered Hardcore in 2018? Is this all media hype? Does Hardcore really need saving? Let’s answer the first of those with a question – does genre even matter that much when most of the half decent bands have the ability to transcend 3-4 genres in a single song? Both Code Orange and Vein are bands who can do that. Their styles cross Metal subgenres pretty quickly with elements and influence from all over the place embedded into their core sound. Vein are one who have had a lot of comparisons to Slipknot‘s 1999 Self-Titled major label debut with “Errorzone” and rightly so. It’s something we picked up on in our review and while their frontman Anthony DiDio isn’t phased by it (and why should he be?), he has spoken about it in recent interviews.

For this weeks Riff Police though, we should go one step further. Between 1999 and 2018 you have a 19 year gap. Members of Vein are old enough to have been brought up on Slipknot and for their *ahem* subliminal verses to have sunk into their brains. There is no denying that if you listen to “Rebirth Control” from Vein and then go back and listen to “No Life” by Slipknot, you’re going to find you’re listening to… very similar riffs. Guitarists Jeremy Martin and Josh Butts have been caught under the influence.