Veil Of Maya is one of those bands that I heard of, knew they were highly praised, yet never heard a single song from them. I caught wind of Synthwave Vegan back in 2021 when Nik Nocturnal was reacting to it, and it blew my mind, so I took the chance to follow the entire album cycle for [m]other, as well as catch up on the rest of their discography.
Their style of polyrhythmic and dissonant progressive metal/djent sound is one that is hardly replicated anywhere else, on account of its insane technicality and complexity. [m]other is their latest iteration of the band's musical insanity, and what I feel to be quite a strong step up from their previous releases. I think they've started to hone in on a balance of catchiness and absurd technicality that maximises replayability while keeping as much insanity as possible.
One thing I've noticed is there's been a subtle shift in sound over the years that is most prominent in [m]other. Not to call it "becoming more pop", but ever since the inclusion of vocalist Lukas Magyar and his introduction of clean vocals to the band's sound, they've been slowly lending elements from metalcore and post-hardcore into their essence. [m]other stays in 4/4 noticeably more often than their old stuff, there's more clean choruses and a lot more melody involved, but still boasts the same ruthlessness when it comes to unorthodox open chug grooves and heavily syncopated riffs. I love this evolution of their sound, and I think it's essential that they slowly move away from their original sound, because there's only so much you can do with palm muted zero fret chug patterns.
[m]other by far has the most tracks I've enjoyed and come back to regularly. Other than the absolutely monstrous pre-album cycle single Synthwave Vegan, I enjoyed all the other singles quite a lot as well. When it comes to the non-singles, none of them standout too much, but I commend the melodics on [re]connect and Disco Kill Party, and the clean vocal melodies on choruses of songs like Artificial Dose and Disco Kill Party are solid. There are moments on the record that feel homely in metalcore, like most of Lost Creator and the more electronic parts of Mother Pt. 4, whether it's the guitarwork or the soundscape itself that feels rooted in modern metal tendencies. Lukas' screams have only gotten better with time, and is seriously underrated as a vocalist. Some of his lows and highs in this record get pretty ridiculous, and do the rest of the band's energy justice.
Veil Of Maya is one of those bands that were always in a league of their own, riding on the wave of a style they pioneered. They've been evolving alongside the modern metal scene, but never drawing heavy influence from it. With a refreshing palette of musical innovation, [m]other is going to be a new best for the insanely innovative quartet.
Rating: 8/10