Big Stature vs. Veil Of Maya

Four years ago when I first heard Chicago's homegrown death metal phenom Veil Of Maya's sophomore release and Sumerian Records label debut, The Common Man's Collapse I was simply blown away. Its spine-destroying breakdowns, intricate guitar work solely credited to the magnificent Mark Okubo, intense and complex drums, and overall its beautifully-crafted technicality just completely did it for me.

Over the years Veil Of Maya quickly became one of my favorite bands. Now it's 2012 my tastes in music have matured, I'm older, I still have an undying love for death metal, but a lot has changed since 2008, although Veil Of Maya hasn't all that much. When their fourth album entitled Eclipse set for a February 28th release inevitably leaked, like the diehard fan I am, I most certainly got my hands on it.

The album like all its predecessors, starts off with one of VOM's minute and a half patented signature "chug chug" intro tracks, as always it will get almost any crowd ready to throw down like it's 1999, with it's thick, chunky, almost stuttering guitar work it get's the juices flowing but in no way is it a surprise. Then the real fun starts.

Eclipse is filled with the guitar we've all come to love Veil for - bouncy, progy, complex melodic goodness Mark Okubo has instilled into my skull and mastered. The bass, unlike a lot of the albums released by their brethren in the genre, is completely audible, this is Danny Hauser's first album with the VOM dudes and he is completely parallel to Okubo, I mean the dude plays a seven-string bass. The drums are provided by none other than Sam Applebaum, one of the most underrated drummers in all of music, and one of my personal favorites, he provides the sickest beats that are a major component to the Veil Of Maya machine. And last but not least, we have Brandon Butler on the mic, although he returns with the same sick nasty, raspy, pissed off tone we're all familiar with, our dear friend brings little to nothing new to the table.

Eclipse has a lot of moments that make you really just want to get up and two-step along, the breakdowns are as complicated and tasty as ever; it's impossible to not bob your head along to its grooves. They certainly have a stronger sense of melody on this album than any other but not enough to fully distinguish itself from the rest, immediately after starting the album do you already know what band you're listening to. A new feature they utilize on the album is the addition of more synth, it's 99% not annoying at times, and it adds a layer of atmosphere unheard of in their previous releases, I definitely want to see how they're going to incorporate it into their live sets. Eclipse is short and sweet, running at about 28 minutes, so if you are looking for an hour and a half epic look somewhere else.

The album is a wonderful representation of what modern progressive death metal is. It's nothing new, it's nothing groundbreaking, and it's not a classic we're going to be remembering 20 years from now. It's Veil Of Maya. It’s intense, fun, progressive death metal that you've heard from them for years. I guess as the old saying goes - if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I give the album a solid 3.5/5. Eclipse drops tomorrow.

"All they have is just brener bredernener weedener weenernener."




By: Eli Martinez

Long Live Svedman

Vanguard students recently experienced a tremendous loss. Prospect Highschool alumnus Matthew Svedman passed away January 31st at the age of 19. He was a son, a brother, and a friend. And a friend to many he was. Even to some students right here at Vanguard. I got the chance to speak to a few of them and they shared thoughts and had so much to say about their dear friend.

Matt was known for his honesty. According to his friends, he would often share his opinions and not hold anything back. He told a person exactly what he thought of them and had amazing judgment. Matt was the type of person who told it to you straight and is remembered by his friends as one of the realest persons they had ever come across. People remember Matt as a hard worker. There's no goal he couldn't reach. Stopping at nothing to get where he had to go and get what he needed. His friends say he was admired greatly at his job in a shoe store for his work ethic.

"I'll always remember him as being a hard worker. He always supported you. He was always a genuine friend and remained that way through thick and thin," said Miki Grabowski.

His humor is another trait his friends loved and is often the first thing everyone noticed about him. According to his friends, a typical day with Matt was always filled with nonstop laughter, making everyone crack a smile with his irony, sarcasm, and incredible wit. "If you were around Matt, you were always laughing no matter what," said Chris Kopec.

Matt's intellect was unmatched. It is the one thing everyone remembers the most about him. Whether he was talking about the music he loved, playing an instrument, having a heart to heart conversation with someone, philosophizing, he just always had something to say and knew so much. His brilliance spoke volumes.

"He’s one of those people you'll definitely miss when he's gone. He was acknowledged and appreciated when he was here but in his absence there's an unavoidable gap. It's so sad that the world will never fully witness Matt's intelligence. All we're left with is the memories and the ability to further appreciate the quality of our lives," said Emily Casey.

All of his friends I spoke with seemed completely in love with him. The impact he had on so many lives can never be measured. A wake was held February 6th and his funeral was the following day. Vanguard students went and gathered in his honor, they paid their respects and said goodbye to their dear friend. Matt was one of the most genuine, most insightful, and honest friends anyone could have and he will forever be loved and missed by those closest to him, said Grabowski.

"Life comes at you fast and you have to be prepared. I hope that when he's looking down at us he'll have some sort of sarcastic remark. I'll always miss him and those remarks," said Kopec.

What's all the racket?

Story and photos by Eli Martinez

What's all the racket at Vanguard these days? It would appear to be table tennis.

Six years ago, our own resident PE and health teacher who's been at Vanguard for seven years, Mr. Tedd Markos built two homemade ping pong tables out of plywood and pretty soon students began to play during lunch and whenever they had free time. And before you know it, the ping pong club and the Golden Paddle Tournament was born, and it is still in full swing. Today, the Golden Paddle Tournament is in its sixth year with a record-breaking 29 contestants and a new champion will emerge this month.

"IT'S FANTASTIC,” said, A.J. Bays, a strong and fierce competitor, and quite possibly the first female champion regarding the craze.

Over the years at Vanguard ping pong became more and more popular and the number of students who played greatly increased. It then was obvious that we needed more tables. After six years of using the same tables much change was much needed.

Mr. Markos, being the avid ping pong fan he is, joined a ping pong league this year and pretty soon his league became sponsored by the company Killerspin, one of the largest ping pong equipment, clothing, and accessories distributors in the world, whose products can be found in 14 different continents. So you can guess what happened next. Killerspin now sponsors Vanguard's table tennis club.

"I'm extremely psyched, it sounds like Markos is very passionate about the sport of ping pong and its involvement at Vanguard. I am very thankful that Markos puts in a lot of time and effort into Vanguard's very local ping pong club," said Thad Struggles, reigning golden paddle champion.

Mr. Markos wrote a killer letter to Killerspin informing them of our growing ping pong culture. He then came in touch with the programs and product development director; Rajeev Sharma and through a stroke of luck he agreed to sponsor our club, give us free equipment, and he also plans to send in professional players to visit the school.

"It's going be sweet, we're going to have fun and I'm going to beat Thad," said Kenzo Yoshimura, a fearless competitor who's in it to win it.

We received new tables courtesy of the company and they will be put to good use in our golden paddle tournament, which began January 25.

"It's super cool, props to Mr. Markos. This the most dedicated, competitive, and fun year of ping pong I've been involved in, " said Mr. Impastato, music/ping pong club emperor.

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At the time of publication, AJ Bays, Angie Mazanova, Pete Miller, Chris Kopec, Yoshimura are contenders to win, according to Mr. Markos. Thad Struggles plans to return for an exhibition game against the winner since he graduated last month. The teacher bracket favorite at this time is Mr. Kain.