Album Review: Veilburner - Longing for Triumph, Reeking of Tragedy : The Razor's Edge

Album Review: Veilburner - Longing for Triumph, Reeking of Tragedy

Reviewed by Sam Jones

I love Veilburner. I’ll get that out of the way. I love the scopes of insanity Veilburner are willing to take their songwriting to; when one listens to these guys, one needs to throw all conventions and rules through the window. Formed in 2014 out of Pennsylvania, United States, Veilburner is a unique project consisting of two men: David Moody, covering all instrumentation, and Chris Sheppard, performing all vocals, across every record they’ve done together. There are no Demos, EPs, Splits, nothing miscellaneous, just straight up studio albums that boggle and warp the minds listening. With 2014’s The Three Lightbearers they instantly demonstrated their stance on black/death metal was wholly different to the rest and as they’ve continued on, across various records like 2018’s A Sire To The Ghouls Of Lunacy and last year’s The Duality Of Decapitation And Wisdom, Veilburner prove they can persistently push what’s conceivably dubbed the envelope in extreme metal. Just one year on Veilburner prepare to unleash their eighth album titled Longing For Triumph, Reeking Of Tragedy, now their fifth release through Transcending Obscurity Records. Once more adorning art by the gracefully talented Luciana Nedelea, Veilburner rip your psyche from its mortal cradle for another round of face melting black/death metal in the vein only Veilburner can deliver on, out November 14th.

Longtime fans of Veilburner know the band do not write conventional extreme metal, in fact should Veilburner do precisely that then their audience would surely be up in arms. Anyone discovering straightforward riffs and track development herein would be shocked, especially this far into the band’s career. The band are known for their lunacy yet its not as if they’re just leaving you in their wake for numerous sequences during the record are slower than the rest, giving us that chance to follow the insanity with some modicum of understanding, right before Veilburner put their foot down knowing they’ve got us ensnared. Thats what i respect, they aren’t just throwing you into the maelstrom with no lifejacket but once they know you’re at their whim, its then they start throwing the more avant-garde, obtuse material at you. As an opening track “Longing For Triumph...” is an excellent example as I know the breadth of Veilburner’s madness yet this feels purposefully subdued. However its an opening track and thus the band need to bring people aboard, especially if they’re virgin newcomers to their soundscape; you don’t want to alienate a fresh crowd immediately.

Here the band really have gone for it and approached the record with a thoroughly free-for-all attitude where even the strangest ideas can be implemented. Listening to Veilburner is liberating as, those sounds or guitar techniques that wouldn’t fly in conventional extreme metal? Veilburner can implement it. One example is this high-pitched harmonic that sounds like an industrialised alarm; typically that’d feel out of place but Veilburner apply it into their songwriting with a hostility that instantly grabs you. When you think you’ve got a riff or general structure of a track figured out the band throw it out altogether, unless they decide to develop it several times beyond what you envisioned. The band’s ability to evolve songs has been noted extensively and nothing feels hammered into the ground which the band may stick with permanently. This too applies to the vocals for during any single track you could receive spoken word, guttural vocals, snarls, whispering etc, its staggering how Veilburner have taken multiple variations on instrumentation and vocals each and scattered them all across the record without it feeling overpopulated with ideas nor lacking structurally.

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One element Veilburner are leaning towards herein is the guitar’s ability to seemingly rise above the rest of the band. Listen keenly to the riffs and you’ll find how they’ve been written with minute interconnectivity in mind as songs come across not with crushing weight but something more abstract, even alien. What’s more the riffs have been given the freedom to ring out through the record so the resonance from one note is still presenting itself as the next is lined up for strumming; the resulting effect is a soundscape that feels approachable but is far from a typical album sound. The desire this time round seems not to hit the audience with cinderblocks but almost to rip the soul out of their bones as one feels the band dig deep into our chests. You can recognise Veilburner have immense strength behind their performance but the mass they exert feels deliberately lighter, only for the odder aspect of their identity to emanate with fewer sonic hindrances. Its my first experience with a new Veilburner record where the perplexing nature of their sound truly takes centre stage and the punishing heaviness is a byproduct, rather than vice versa.

Everyone and their dog praise the riffs and soloing on any given Veilburner record but the drums are easily the most underrated element they sport. Knowing how changeable the riffs can be on a typical song, with altering time signatures too, the guitar playing is organically tough to pin down. But the drums fulfill that role and whilst their own drum tracks evolve and refuse to sit still and quietly, they’re easier to follow as a newcomer especially than the riffs. The bass drums too inject huge quantities of bass throughout the mix, thickening the further reaches of space the rest of the band can’t quite reach. Though Veilburner’s erratic presence is vast I doubt they’d feel so commanding had the drums not been given the necessary position in the mix. Its the drumming that really anchors the band to earth thus lending them the chance to rip the bones from our flesh. The band may be renowned for bizarre songwriting but you need to offer something familiar to keep audiences invested otherwise they’re at risk of losing themselves and their interest.

In conclusion, its always difficult critically analysing a Veilburner record knowing how unusual and purposefully sporadic its songwriting is. Following the train of development on a Veilburner song is like sketching a lightning bolt: you know it was there but its got such a specific shape and unapproachable form, outlining it is extremely tough. What can be said in this instance however is Veilburner may gone further in providing that obtuse, nigh-indecipherable soundscape they’re so revered for. But as “...Reeking Of Tragedy” closes the record one can’t help but feel the band reward us deeply for sticking it out with them, sharing our time, with one of the most triumphant, enigmatic riffs I've heard in some time. Other aspects of instrumentation showcase the band aren’t solely focused on the weirder ideas, they need to keep audiences interested and following, to some capacity, what is happening and you can’t do that when you feel you need to constantly put your audience out of their comfort zone. Then again one doesn’t venture into a Veilburner record without understanding the oddities they bear, for the band surely acknowledge their sound isn’t for everyone. I think this record will certainly push listeners to the brink of what they think they enjoy, and this applies to their established fanbase too, as even I myself took note of how strange Veilburner were going with the songwriting and I've been plenty familiar with these guys. Over a decade on from their debut Veilburner refuse to compromise, you have to respect them for that.