VEIL OF MAYA BECOME ENDLESSLY PREDICTABLE WITH MATRIARCH

I spent quite a long time trying to come up with a deep opinion on the new album, Matriarch, by American Progressive Deathcore outfit Veil of Maya, but after repeated listens and chances I come back to one word to describe just over 30 minutes of music that I can barely remember.

Apathy.

A previous Veil of Maya album, The Modern Man’s Collapse, still makes it into my listening rotation semi-regularly. The lukewarm reaction that Matriarch elicits is not based on a previous, under-running, bias against the Sumerian Records veterans, but that, in 2015, Veil of Maya seem to have nothing more to offer. It is not to say that Veil of Maya were necessarily the architects of Progressive Deathcore, but at one point at least, their sound was new and exciting; the riffs were not just the same riffs heard from other bands… even if their songs had tablature akin to a spilt tin of spaghetti hoops at times. Matriarch, conversely, relies heavily on the trappings of its genre and successfully takes the Progress out of Progressive Deathcore.

Veil of Maya have not lost their technical ability or their penchant for writing decent riffs, at least not completely, but they have fallen into a pit of predictability. It’s conflicting to hear an enjoyable riff, only to have it followed by 3 minutes of everything you’ve come to expect; zoning out completely until the next vaguely interesting bit. This album ticks every box so that it can satisfy the modern definition of its genre and little more. The result is a record listened to with clipboard in hand; the listener just waiting to be able to check the boxes marked “overly syncopated Start-Stop riff written in an obtuse time signature” and “random breakdown that completely ruins the flow.” It is likely you have heard this album before, just with a different names and titles attached and (only slightly) different album art. It’s been released many times before (even by Veil of Maya themselves.)

The only thing that has changed this time around are the vocals. New vocalist Lukas Magyar took over from Brandon Butler in 2014, introducing, controversially, clean vocals to Veil of Maya for the first time. These clean vocals are another nail in the coffin for Matriarch, but not because clean vocals are inherently bad or *insert homophobic slur here* or that Magyar’s performance is anything to complain about. The issue is that sections where Lukas Magyar’s clean vocals come to the forefront underline the complete lack of creativity to be found on this album. This is mainly because these sections all sound lifted from Periphery’s Periphery II: This Time It’s Personal release from 2012. On a first listen I had to double check to make sure that Spencer “Sponce” Sotelo wasn’t a featured artist on this album. It’s a definite bad move for your album to remind me of another, better, album that I could be listening to. Because if I can. I will. And I’m sure I’m not the only one.

If the idea of another album that throws electronics, unsatisfying time signature changes and Morse code (probably delivering messages to undercover sleeper cells) disguised as chugging guitar riffs at you is somehow appealing, then Matriarch is for you. For everyone else, there is a vaguely enjoyable album here, but it’s one you’ve probably already heard. One that follows a very specific formula that, to be fair to Veil of Maya, the band follows very well. It’s just a shame that the formula is no longer just written on the blackboard at the front of the Progcore classroom, but etched there like some kind of commandment of the genre; giving those who look on it with the knowledge of tedious predictability.

2.5/5

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MECHINA'S ACHERON WILL CRUSH YOUR SKULL WITH ROBOTIC CLAWS

I feel like I’ve opened some lead-lined, cyber-punk Pandora’s Box after diving into the latest release from Symphonic Death/Groove Metal project Mechina. Acheron is an hour long slab of crushing groove laden industrial death riffage coupled with a massively cinematic atmosphere. How the album sounds however, is just the surface of something far, far deeper.

There is something rather important that needs to be discussed about Acheron. Something that I wasn’t aware of prior to my extensive review research (or Google as I tend to call it.) Acheron is a concept album, but not only that, it’s the first part of a trilogy… the second trilogy. This release picks up where Mechina's first trilogy, consisting of 2011’s Conqueror and the two following full lengths, as well as a couple of singles left off.  Together these trilogies tell a grand, complex narrative as penned by guitarist Joe Tiber; following a dystopian future war and one beings search for a secular haven. Acheron finds the listener stranded on a planet full of robots that he thought was destined to be his nirvana. Though, as with most Metal concept albums, it’s really hard to actually tell what’s going on. Luckily someone has written an entire wiki-site in an attempt to explain what the hell is actually going on.

Why am I going into such detail about the albums concept? Well in many ways the story explains and compliments many of the aesthetic and composition choices. On its own simply having a genre fiction plot coupled to a metal album wouldn’t be all that impressive, but when combined with the music found on Acheron something really special happens.

Opening track Proprioception sets an excellent mood with sound design worthy of a radio drama. The rain lashes down, the protagonist breaths heavily while mechanical beings draw near, the wind blows all while lush strings slowly swell. This is perhaps the most effective introduction to an album I’ve ever heard; flowing neatly into the actual meat of the album. While cinematic quality is a large part of this record, it is still a Metal album. The change from Sound Scape to Metal does little to take away from the immersion.

The use of a ridiculous TEN string guitar fits perfectly with the idea of a world inhabited by sentient machines, it sounds more like pounding machinery than a guitar at times, such huge slabs of industrial and mechanical riffing set the mood perfectly. As the use of such an insane ERG would imply some riffs do tend to chug on in a djent like fashion, but this choice again seems to merge well with the albums underlying concepts. Tracks like Earth-Born Axiom, for example, really drive home the idea of a purely mechanical world. Songs are thankfully varied however, with songs such as On The Wings of Nefeli focusing on the melodic interplay between the guitars and ethereal female vocals. The use of other-worldly choirs and glitched out strings and synthesisers add to the truly inhuman atmosphere. All of this, while remaining a ridiculously heavy Metal album.

What is perhaps more impressive than Mechina’s ability to write something so crushing yet cinematic on an epic scale, is the bands ability to merge story with aesthetic. The production of this record is mechanical, but not in a sterile. The guitar tone has balls to spare whilst being unashamedly digital and unnatural. It’s less AxeFX, more T800. The use of glitch production, strings and choirs come across, not as a gimmick as they so easily could, but as part of the overall story, they have a reason to be on Acheron.

Prior to being aware of the albums ongoing story Acheron was, to me, merely a solid bit of industrial Metal with great symphonic elements. With the plot however, it has become a journey. Even without knowing exactly what is going on images and stories develop within the mind of the listener. The mixture of concept and aesthetic ultimately come together to create something far more than the solid Industrial Metal and sweeping narrative could do separately.

I’ll be waiting hopefully for an animated Rock opera from Mechina with bated breath. Based on what can be heard on Acheron, they'd be great at it.

4/5

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