VEILBURNER - Lurkers in the Capsule of Skull
Transcending Obscurity Records
A few years ago while writing about VEILBURNER's fourth full length, A Sire to the Ghouls of Lunacy, I clearly made an important point. When one thinks of bands from the blackened death genre you pretty much have a two sided idea of what to expect. VEILBURNER introduces a third option. Of course I found out that option was to create something which actually earns the term progressive. I also called it perfection.
VEILBURNER, who hail from a former home of mine aka the state of Pennsylvania, seem to have created something which forgoes the typical boring or pretentious aspects of what passes for prog in metal. They make it fuckin interesting. So on this their fifth full length this two piece act (yeah I know) does not repeat where they left off in 2018. On the contrary they take another step forward.
Of course their basic template is blackened death metal with plenty of avant garde Euro black metal touches. That's the easy part. From that point onward the band twists song structures into prog pretzel knots. Guitar solos dive in akin to the jazz work of Jeff Beck or even better, the Robert Fripp / Adrian Belew era of KING CRIMSON. Yeah I'm showing my age here because I'm ignorant as far as modern prog or jazz fusion go.
From that point onward you're enveloped in an ever changing soundscape. There's the dissonant tones hanging in backgrounds just waiting to jump out and grab you. The horror tinged melodic solos which morph into dentist drills while ABSU like drum runs pound away. Of course there's always an atmospheric break which is either murky or filled with grandeur.
Lurkers in the Capsule of Skull is an aptly titled over fifty minute journey into the subconscious of the truly discontented. While the heavy handed cuts full of discordance dazzle your open mind. It's the quiet yet suffocating “Para-Opaque” with it's dissonant tones, prog sound slate and whispered vocals which could be the most terrifying cut on the album. I believe my investment with time while listening to this release might've shaved a year off. Either way I believe VEILBURNER has earned their legacy with this one.
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