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.
By: Eli Martinez
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