Review: “(M)other” by Veil Of Maya

“I hope you’re inspired to listen to this again and again. Maybe you’ll hone in on the little details as you go further, and it will musically become a cinematic experience.” ~ guitarist Marc Okubo

“This record is a collection of personal experience, history and a touch of my own imagination. I enjoyed approaching each song in a different way this time around. It was certainly challenging at times to find the right mood but when the work was finally complete it seemed to come together very well. I’m thrilled to see how our fans respond!” ~ vocalist Lukas Magyar

It’s been something of a long ride out of hell for Barrington Illinois Veil Of Maya with six singles in five years since their last album, 2017’s “False Idol“. Originally a Technical Deathcore band when they formed back in 2004, their steady evolution over now seven albums (and ironically seven line up changes) now finds them an entirely different animal, dabbling with Djent and Technical Metalcore. Lyrical themes muse on personal struggles and self-empowerment while being socially aware, odd television and pop culture references surfacing in their newer material with former Arms of Empire and Moxner frontman Lukas Magyar at the helm…

Spine juddering angular staccato riffs open up the floor as “Tokyo Chainsaw” takes hold with the kind of Nu-Metalcore Meets Nu-Deathcore down a dark alley with a baseball bat sound that has been provided by bands like Ten56, Dealer and Diamond Construct in recent years. It’s a demonstration of technical poly rhythmic prowess with a couple of odd time signatured moments, delivered at the tempo of the damned and augmented by programming that finds Magyar sound like a wrathful God and the band in fine destructive form. After such a brutal opening there is an expectation that “Artificial Dose” will see the band playing with Fearless Records Punk Goes Pop style melodies and that is exactly that they do. The result is a bold chorus with R n’ B fuelled clean vocals which sounds like a Metalized cover of a Pop song with dark edges and heavier moments to keeping the fires burning brightly. “Godhead” then swings back into the more aggressive side of the bands offerings with vicious uncleans in both bowel clenching lows and shriller moments as Maygar lays down the gauntlet to those who would have taken his crown. His range is incredible and to accompany that this one has some punishing downtempo breakdown moments from Okubo that are so huge you’re going to need a tow truck. Flirting with melody once more “[re]connect” sounds like a Periphery cut with its rich and vibrant melodic moments, while still dancing with the devil on the 13th floor in the heavier parts. The contrast is so huge that a lesser band wouldn’t be able to stop the stitches that hold the wound together from splitting but Veil Of Maya are collective of talented musicians who are able to make it all sound slick.

“Red Fur” feels like a throwback to the style of Issues or Palisades with heavier moments spliced together with waves of R n’ B, rich samples and programming to provide melody and pre-industrial sounds. It’s heavy enough to satisfy with a turbulent mosh pit filling 20 second burst of audio violence breaking up the Pop-Metal flow which has a nostalgic quality to it but lacks the killer instinct. The second half of the record comes to life with “Disco Kill Party“, a cut very much in the same vein as it’s predecessor with break beats and another bold clean chorus schizophrenically enhanced with fleeting moments of savage brutality. Fortunately none of it sounds forced or overly chaos inducing so the flow of the track is never damaged, however there are clear opportunities to derail the train as it seems that less is never more for Veil Of Maya. The continual drive to blur the genre lines and get creative with extremes within the confinement of a single track is something that should be applauded because having the vision is one thing and having the skills to carry it off is quite another. Industrial tinged, “Mother Pt. 4” is a lethal dose of science fiction hatred that pushes the boundaries at both extremes of the bands sound about as far as they can go, stretching the imagination of the listener at the same time. Cinematic moments of orchestration take things to a new realm of existence and leave you wondering just how far the band could go if they pushed the dynamic even further.

After that magnum opus of epic grandeur, “Synthwave Vegan” slaps back hard as a Technical Deathcore throwback to the bands earlier days with Emmure like breakdowns and odd time signatures galore pummelling the listener into submission. Brutal with a level of controlled chaos, it’s an absolute riot and arguably the heaviest cut the band have produced in a very long time. Seemingly not wanting to lose any of the momentum “Lost Creator” maintains the flow with equally violent destructive power, fleeting moments of blast beats throwing the R n’ B of the middle of record out like a baby with the bath water. A rampage through heavier sounds with quirky nuances and evil little sounds that pop out of the mix over multiple listens, this is powerful enough to break glass at 30 feet. So toss a coin, heads R n’ B melodies, tails DJent fuelled Deathcore brutality for the final cut? “Death Runner” is very much the latter, with Magyar reaching demonic levels with this unclean vocal performance, the swirling darkness of the programming creating battery acid nausea levels of unnerving horror between tectonic plate rumbling levels of percussive battery driven fury. Album number seven finds Veil Of Maya inspired and rejuvenated with a surprisingly heavy offering that is hard to put down. Yes there are a few moments where you wonder quite where they’re going as they chase melodies down the rabbit hole with Alice and smash atoms together in previously unthought of ways but over all this is a Frankenstein’s Monster of an album, fit for a banqueting table and not an autopsy [8/10]

Track Listing

1. Tokyo Chainsaw
2. Artificial Dose
3. Godhead
4. [re]connect
5. Red Fur
6. Disco Kill Party
7. Mother Pt. 4
8. Synthwave Vegan
9. Lost Creator
10. Death Runner

“(M)other” by Veil Of Maya is out 12th May 2023 via Sumerian Records