Another self proclaimed savior of the genre, Veil of Maya play a mildly progressive form of deathcore laced in with so-so attempts at technicality. The band's previous album, The Common Man's Collapse, won them not only much needed exposure, but also also wide spread praise from a rapidly expanding fan base. While never really pushing the envelope stylisticly, the album proved that amidst the bland production and monotone vocals, there was the potential for great improvement within the band. Fast forward 2 years, the waiting period is over. The band has released their sophomore album to a huge amount of hype, and fans everywhere are clamoring for posters, clothing, and colored copies of the new album. Was all the wait and hype worth it?
Well, yes and no. For fans of the band's earlier work, this will sound exactly like what they want it to be. The Veil formula hasn't changed any, and while the band has modified their sound, it still feels like the same band from 2 years ago. Sure, they're playing different notes, but it really just sounds like a Common Man's Collapse part 2. For those of us who either disliked the first album, or were holding off for a more matured Veil of Maya, you won't find much to like here.
It first needs to be said that [id] really isn't a bad album. There's no insultingly simple song structures, crab-stance inspiring breakdowns, or songs that bleed into one another without any kind of change in sound. So in that regard, [id] avoids many pitfalls that their sister bands falls prey to oh so often. However, while there aren't a lot of things wrong with it, there's even less that goes right. Everything about this band just lacks impact. For example, the vocals revolve around a throaty bellow, but instead of adding intensity to the music, they just come off as dry and unremarkable. The producer even seems to be working against them, because whenever the guitarist tries to add some brutality via harder or heavier riffing, they still sound either too soft or too mushy.
However bland it may be, the guitarist on this album is probably the highlight for most fans. The riffs that are actually distinguishable on this really aren't all that bad, and can even sometimes rise to the level of legitimately being interesting. But then as soon as they've hit that sweet spot, they move into the mandatory soft section. You see, each track on here follows a basic formula. Mediocre to good opening, sleep inducing soft section, sh*tty breakdown X 3, and then a boring fade out. Dark passenger, the strongest song on this album, starts off with some f*cking intense riffing, and everything goes just perfectly, until 1:42. Right at that instant, all riffing stops, the bassist takes a nap, and a halfhearted interlude of sorts sets in with some terrible singing. It's almost as if these guys wrote all their songs at about 90 seconds in length, and then just added in filler to the end so they could end up with a longer album. Come to think of it, if these guys had cut out all the breakdowns and interludes, and written a 10 minute album, this release would be pretty amazing.
Other tendencies such as the nonsensical breakdowns and laughable synth further weaken this album. While some bands may sprinkle in a few breakdowns, these guys have saturated this album with them. Song Martyrs is just a minute long breakdown, and really nothing else. Again, any attempts at brutality ultimately fail because, at the level and quality at how they are mixed, it just comes out as mush. The synth and spacy sounds mixed in just flat out sound exactly like the ones from Common Man's Collapse. There was absolutely no effort put into making the synth stick with the listener, and most of it breaks their sound, because it either comes off as cheerful, which lessens their “brutal” aspect, or comes off as just a re-hash of their previous album, which just leaves a bad taste in any listener's mouth.
All of this being said, fans of the band will find plenty to love here. The song structures are exactly the same, guitarist Marc Okubo still hits the same style, and it's eleven more tracks for fans to oggle over. But while the fans will be proclaiming this band as the “evolution of metal”, the rest of us will be left scratching out heads and trying to figure out what all the fuss is about.
Review From:
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=49681
