[M]other

Why I am listening to this album now just because I wanted to find my way into public beating of the Summer Slaughter 2024 lineup reveal, how could you tell?

Anyways, so this hits all the notes you'd expect from a Veil of Maya album; the bargain bin Meshuggah riffs, alternations between mid register growls and high screams, the classic whiny tenor clean vocals and some brief flirtations with electronic sections.

And it's all utterly boring and painfully stagnant. I was never big on Veil of Maya to begin with, but I could not explain how much the "BEG FOR SALVATION" call-out line before the break down in the opening track failed to really adequately hype up a listener. Godhead ends with a breakdown and then for a brief second teases that it might bring that breakdown back but slower, before not delivering on that tease, not that I actually wanted that track to be longer anyways. Track 4 is the only on that actually picks up the speed past a steady mid pace, albeit very briefly on the intro.

I know Veil of Maya doesn't get covered here in the archives much considering their popularity, but there's a reason I'm the first person covering this album, it legitimately isn't a good album and I don't think their audience was particularly fond of it either.