Album Review: Veil of Maya

Album Review: Veil of Maya - [m]other
Reviewed by Liam True

Six years since their last release, Veil Of Maya have come back to the scene with [m]other, and the djent mercenaries haven’t lost their touch one bit.

Starting off with Tokyo Chainsaw it’s abundant with djent breaks and riffs that confuse your brain and make you think what you’re listening to as guitarist Marc Okubo and bassist Danny Hauser chug like madmen while drummer Sam Applebaum uses his machine gun double kick ability to keep the pace fast and consistent. Vocalist Lukas Magyar’s vicious growls decimate your ear drums. Artificial Dose is a synth build up with Magyar’s vocals taking centre stage for me as they’re more on the lines of hardcore vocals on this track which compliment his cleans on the chorus as he soars with the band before diving back to the metalcore grooves they’re known for with more cleans and synth build ups.

Godhead starts up like an arcade machine before the band blast back in as their rhythmic abilities shows no bounds as they’re a bit slower on this song compared to others, but only just noticeably. Magyar’s cruel sounding high screams are impeccable. Okubo’s guitars toward the end of the track are the stand-out of the entire album in my eyes as every strum sounds as if he’s sending his guitar out of tune but it sounds too great to say anything bad about. [re]connect show’s Okubo’s abilities yet again as the track starts out with his blend of tech-death inspired djent-core as Hauser’s bass pounds through you on this track in particular while Magyar’s vocals rip you to shreds as his lows boil your blood and his highs ascend you to the heavens in-between the rampant distorted chugs.

Red Fur is where the album starts to get a but choppy for me as it seems as though it was written and added at the last second. It’s by no means a bad track but feels rushed and in turn feels disjointed from the rest of the album. Disco Kill Party is another arcade start up but then hits into the more melodic side of the instrumentation as Magyar’s vocals shred on top of the band with Okubo’s pitch harmonics in the background. The intro to Mother PT.4 sounds like a bit of a rip off of stranger things, but this may be a nod to the series, the track itself however is a meaty chunk of djent powered melodies.

[m]other isn’t a very long album, only with ten songs and clocking in at 36 minutes but by the time you reach Synthwave Vegan you feel like you’ve heard the album in full. Djent isn’t really my favourite sub-genre of metal as it either sounds the same or reaches headache inducing distortion that puts you off. On this album the last remaining tracks do sound the same, but they are all good songs. Nothing about the album is bad. The production is crisp and clear. The band are on point throughout, and it packs a good few punches and stand out moments inside. But it does miss the mark of being a great album, even by just a minuscule amount. I’d recommend it to anyone who loves djent, but for those who don’t, I'd hand out a couple of tracks that’ll make their head spin.