Age of Midgard

Veil of Sin is a young Gothic Metal band from Hungary, which formed in 2003. The band took their time before releasing any material, but finally did release their debut, the EP “Age of Midgard”, in 2007.

The EP consists of four tracks, three of which are completely composed by the band themselves. The final track “Satan’s Litanies” consists a poem by Charles Baudelaire, which is transformed to a metal track.

The EP starts out with “Twilight” which is a pretty evil sounding track for a Gothic Metal band. This is done mainly by the keyboard sound, which is in church organ mode most of the time. Furthermore, there is a lot of use of growls, adding more to the evil sounding atmosphere. The next tracks don’t emphasize these two elements as much, but manage to sound equally sorrowful.

I have heard some Gothic/Black Metal hybrids in the past. Veil of Sin is does not really incorporate Black Metal elements in their music, but somehow managed to convey the sort of atmosphere Black Metal aspires to make, using pure Gothic Metal elements.

The band features both male and female vocals in typical Gothic Metal fashion, with operatic female vocals contrasting male growls. At first I had some trouble appreciating the female vocals, seeing this is the full-blown operatic type, which isn’t exactly the easy-listening style of vocal delivery. After a few spins though, they have grown on me and I must admit they fit the music perfectly.

The band paid much attention to the visual aspect of the release, resulting in some great cover art which complements the quality and atmosphere of the music.

Veil of Sin managed to create quite an original blend of Gothic Metal. Although I personally prefer a somewhat more melodic and symphonic approach, I certainly enjoyed this EP.