VEIL OF MAYA

Even bands as manifestly progressive as VEIL OF MAYA get their share of abuse for daring to keep evolving. Never easy to pigeonhole, they began in relatively pedestrian deathcore territory, before embracing a more forward-thinking agenda and winding up — on the celebrated likes of "Id" (2010) and "Eclipse" (2012) — as a refined amalgam of metalcore, deathcore and technically dazzling djent brutality. The arrival of a new vocalist, Lukas Magyar, ensured another change of focus, and both "Matriarch" (2015) and "False Idol" (2017) ably showcased the Chicagoans next flurry of moves. Many bands claim that their new music will be heavier and yet also melodic, but with VEIL OF MAYA that notion seems broadly true. Magyar's clean vocals will never be to everybody's tastes, but by giving themselves that extra weapon, they have been able to mutate in multiple directions at once. "[m]other" is the result, and for the majority of its duration, the band's relentless pursuit of the next thing to do is as exciting to hear as it obviously is to experience from within.

The first of these songs to be unveiled, "Synthwave Vegan" isn't just a goofy title: it's a visceral barrage of robot deathcore and anthemic anguish, with a solid dose of gnarly djent riffing. "Godhead" and "Disco Kill Party" both strike a similar tone, elevating VEIL OF MAYA's trademark sound with warped electronics. The latter also boasts a somewhat routine metalcore hook, at which point audiences will be roughly divided between those who love Magyar's style of clean vocals and those who definitely don't. A similar problem affects "Artificial Dose", "Red Fury" and a few other tracks. The sheer invention and brutality on display is unquestionable throughout, but certain melodic choices seem a little perfunctory in such an otherwise fiercely original context.

But at its best, "[m]other" is absolutely the equal of anything VEIL OF MAYA have released in the past. "Mother Pt. 4" is a gently progressive sprawl of disparate ideas, with a retrowave heart, a smart and nuanced performance from Magyar, and some of the most fired-up and spiky tech-metal showboating yet committed to tape. Less immediate standouts like the lithe and brutal "Lost Creator", the machines-gone-mad riff maze of "Death Runner", and the manic syncopation of opener "Tokyo Chainsaw" are very nearly as good.

VEIL OF MAYA are plainly incapable of repeating themselves, and "[m]other" marks another confident step forward, with their admirable disregard for convention as an extra selling point.