Veil of Maya - [M]other (2023)^{Release ID: 44471}

I have mentioned before that the early stages of deathcore were not my scene, even though many of my friends during the late 2000s were all about the craze. But somehow, it is I who have started listening to these bands with frequency in recent years; as these bands move further away from deathcore, their music seems to become more interesting.

Veil of Maya are yet another band who came out of the later 2000s Sumerian Records extravaganza, but have moved further away from deathcore in the years since 2008's The Common Man's Collapse, opting for more djent and progressive tendencies, while also changing their main style to something closer to melodic metalcore. Don't get me wrong, what we get on [M]other is still heavy as hell, and these melodic choruses only appear in maybe a quarter of the albums runtime. Most of it is spent playing chunky riffs that are groovy as hell, wacky tempo's and time signatures, and all sorts of unconventional guitar methods to create sounds.

And somehow it all works really well. The biggest thing is the production that is so clean and precise, so all of the electronics and industrial tones do not overpower the main fundamentals of the tunes. Some might say that the cleanliness of this record is a determent, since it nullifies the true nature of the "hardcore" sound, but the precise timings and mixing are not really suited for hardcore music anyway, so I'll let it slide.

Where djent fails most often for me is the lack of coherent melodies/motifs that keep tunes memorable beyond "that one quirky riff". Veil of Maya play this well also, as "Artificial Dose" "Red Fur" and "Disco Kill Party" all have catchy vocal melodies that are complimented by full, open chord guitar backgrounds and minimal percussion. It creates a very strange dichotomy between that and the disjointed nature of the djenty breakdowns, but I feel like these two ideas are still loosely connected. 

Overall, I enjoyed the newest Veil of Maya album. It's more melodically pleasing than your standard deathcore or djent record, song styles vary from full on aggression to synthesized countermelodies and melodic choruses and the production is crisp and pristine. It feels like a heavier version of Northlane's Obsidian from last year and that's a huge compliment, but like with a lot of djent, I think the rhythmic technicality of the whole thing may just be a little bit too overwhelming for some. In addition, some tracks may become less replayable for much the same reason.

Best Songs: Artificial Dose, Godhead, Red Fur, Disco Kill Party, Lost Creator