Sombre

There`s a real sense of motion in the cover art for Veil`s first full length album, Sombre. A wolf is running past trees misshapen and gnarly, devoid of leaf. It`s an interesting perspective we view the picture from ground level everything towers above us, it`s as if we`re encouraged to witness more the brevity of time than the actual scene. A winters night (presumably) cold and lonely with tattered clouds streaming overhead. They say wolves live only in the present tense and are unsentimental creatures who can accept you warmly one minute or rip out your throat the next, if you should show weakness or hesitancy (denoting untrustworthiness).

A heart rending cry and mournful guitar so begins To Die Alone. A man condemned for his beliefs knowing he`ll finish what days he has left incarcerated.
The guitar sound is fuzzy, jarring, similar to those on Nattens Madrigal though lower in tone and not so frenzied (maybe a good discription would be to imagine if Burzum and Xasthur were to join together this is the sound they may produce). Stolztrager manages to convey a deep sense of loss and passive acceptance, not seeking pity more a desire to pass quickly through this empty life and travel to a place more forgiving and non judgemental. A bassoon-like sound interweaves with male choir effects to give this track profound melody and strangely calming qualities.

Mater Maternis (maternal mother) is the welcoming forest, "profound overseer" she laments the short sightedness and perniciousness of man.
The song starts slowly, welcomely, before the "wall" of guitar descends once more and Thurisaz`s whispered haunting voice beseeches us as if from beyond the grave to take heed of the sleeping powers of mother nature, soon to be evoked by mans wanton destruction. Keyboards accompany the song together with occasional acoustic guitar and add a rich though mournful layer.

Stolztrager`s guitar playing is distorted and penetrating but is the main reason I extol Veil, it gives them a very distinctive sound. The drumming is straight forward not overly technical but helps bind the songwriting together and, when listened for, gives a rhythmic undercurrent that (coupled with those buzzing guitars) borders on the hypnotic.
The pace picks up with the last track "Hope". We`re lulled by gently stirring keyboards before a "pattering" drum beat and urgent symbols impinge the listener. A sense of expectancy permeates, choral voices can be heard lamenting softly in the back ground before Thurisaz`s hair raising cry gives the cue for a more frenzied cadence.
I picture the lone wolf darting through trees laced with moonlight, misty tendrils rising from damp decaying leaves.
Another reason this masterpiece resonates so strongly with me is the feeling of empathy, and we`re reminded,

"Winds will blow
Tides will turn
Change is eternal, change is eternal."

Even the mightiest empires fall so be like the wolf, no past, no concern for the future, living life to the full. Here and now is the only reality.

Bands like Veil intensely annoy me. I’m sure we all know at least one band of a similar nature. You know the type, so come on, share in my hatred! The one’s which create material in year X and sit on that material like its some sort of egg with life inside it, preparing and waiting to hatch. Veil’s debut full-length, ‘Sombre’, was written between the years 1997 and 2006, but for some reason, it wasn’t released until as recent as 2008. According to the bands profile, they weren’t even established until 2003, so this two man band had been sitting on material for a long time before they finally decided it was worthwhile taking the chance and recording it for the ears of the public. The annoyance arises from the fact that Veil are actually a band with two good musicians, one’s which are evidently capable of competing in the local and worldwide market for accolades that are only dished out to the very best. The glaringly obvious fact that Veil is a band consisting of two well informed musicians who know the black metal style in-and-out makes them a potentially brilliant prospect, but until we have a substantial amount of material to dissect, we will never know whether this potential is unfounded, or whether it was rightly highlighted.

With the release of ‘Sombre’, we become one step closer to knowing the truth. This is a stunning record made with Velvet Cacoon in mind, is the debut full-length, though there was a belief that ‘Dolor’ was the original debut, an opinion I myself held for many years until an update of the main page stuck, confirming ‘Sombre’ as the debut full-length record, released through established label, Stellar Winter Records, a label home to a number of well known Eastern European bands such as Branikald and Walknut, very much so a well loved band. The abilities of this band were obviously noticeable to more people than just myself as ‘Dolor’ was highly rated and the band were picked up by a successful label who, as previously mentioned, are home to a number of Europe’s obscure elite. As I’ve already mentioned, this record seems to be made with fellow American band Velvet Cacoon in mind. I wouldn’t rate this record as highly as I do ‘Genevieve’, a record I wouldn’t rate most others higher than, though it is made in likeness to it, or so it would seem.

If ‘Genevieve’ is God, then ‘Sombre’ is Jesus Christ, a man made in the image and likeness of God himself. This record does differ however, so don’t go expecting a carven copy of Velvet Cacoon’s hypnotic masterpiece, one which epitomises the wall-of-noise sound very few black metal bands can pull off. Though this record may consist of a number of similar elements, like the distorted hypnotic base, I would consider ‘Sombre’ a lot more adventurous than ‘Genevieve’, a record which stuck firmly to a monotonous sound, one which depicted a fine frenzy of wintry imagery and vast desolation with a sense of beauty intermingled between ideas. Songs like ‘Mater Maternis’ are fine examples of how the similarities are adopted into this piece and how the differences force the two to sound varied. The vocals, which come in the form of a whispering rasp are buried deep inside the guitar distortion and repetitive bass section, but unlike Velvet Cacoon, Veil are not content to continue this trend throughout the entire duration of the record and, instead, they mix it up with some innovative techniques.

These techniques, which become pivotal to the record and sustaining a sense of individuality, which helps maintain that Veil are their own creation, not merely a clone of the mysterious Velvet Cacoon, a band shrouded in far more uncertainty than Veil. The similarities mean that Veil also like to depict a cold wintry sound, but as with songs like the enigmatic ‘Resilience’, Veil separate themselves by introducing what sounds like a clean keyboard based atmosphere and a outside influence from the one and only Burzum. This song shows a different side to Veil, though most would have initially expected something similar to what we eventually get, though the addition of distant clean vocals which remind me of the haunting voice of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis transforms this from a standardised hypnotic black metal beast into a unique and slightly surreal song with hidden depths, though this element is a sparse quality from within.

The fact that ‘Sombre’ exists as a record you need to hear numerous times to fully appreciate and understand every elements individual task makes it a one-of-a-kind in the industry. A lot of black metal records are easy to figure out from the get-go, but not this one. The keyboard based synths add a subtle beauty to the face of desolation which comes in the form of the distortion guitar, audible tremolo bass lines and repetitive drum patterns all alongside the integral vocals, the voice of mystique and intrigue. Usually, the problem with bands in this style is that the main guitar riffs, the central point and most important factor, aren’t the symbol of longevity. This isn’t a problem that exists for Veil who’re the masters are making mesmerising and affective black metal songs that transport their ideas straight into the long-term memory, skipping the short-term memory as it is not needed. Hopefully, this won’t just be a flash in the pan and Veil will stick it out. I hope to see a sophomore soon, though it is easy to imagine one not appearing until five or more years down the line, such is life when dealing bands of this nature.