Veil of Maya - Eclipse (2012)

Look, I agree that djent is a bullshit, made-up label in a genre that's already saturated with long, pointless subgenres like cascadian black metal or whatever. Going the extra mile and talking about 'djentcore' just makes you eligible for a savage beating because now you're being ultra-annoying, so please, don't go there. I'm not entirely sure when this djent fad started, but I'm just finding out about it and now I'm curious. It took me quite a lot of google searches to figure out what djent even means and I think it's a poorly-chosen onomatopoeia and whoever came up with it (Meshuggah?) should receive a good flogging.

Veil of Maya are apparently part of the djent current, toiling away for six years and releasing three studio albums, Eclipse being their latest offering. I had heard good things about this album, but the thing that drew me to them - before reading up on what djent is - was the eye-catching cover art and, well, their name, which instantly got me thinking about Cynic and hoping it would sound kinda like them. They sound nothing like Cynic. Instead, they play a pimped-up, extremely polished modern semi-technical death metal (I'm really trying to avoid saying they actually play deathcore because I feel bad when I enjoy it - TRUE METALHEADZ AREN'T SUPPOSED TO ENJOY DEATHCORE!) that caters more to the rhythmic side of things.

UGH. I hate myself. 

The music is highly percussive, often sacrificing melody in favor of CHUG, with a dual low growl/high shriek vocal attack and blasting drumming. At times, the music is gorgeous, thanks to some smooth, eerie synth pads and a few melodic guitar solos here and there. This can best be noticed on tracks like The Glass Side, with its brooding background atmospherics, and Numerical Scheme, which features one of the most beautiful intros I've ever heard before collapsing into spastic, brutal riffing and chaotic vocal delivery. Other songs, like Punisher or Winter Is Coming Soon, are straight-up bone breakers and should do a decent job of crushing your spine under a fuckton of metal.

Hovering just under the 30 minute mark, Eclipse is a an easy and enjoyable listen. Most of the songs are about 2-3 minutes in lenght, which is really ideal - you wouldn't want nine minute songs made up of samey riffs pounding you into utter boredom. This may not be trve metal and the dudes in Veil of Maya might not be hard-ass men with huge muscles, but pleasant fellows who happen to enjoy harsh sounding guitars. Either way, if you can get past the hair-dos and the stupid djent label and keep an open mind, Veil of Maya might just surprise you.

Or you can go back to listening to Metallica and Lamb of God, you boring loser.