Veil of Maya - [Id]

I have decided to beef up the reviews section of this site a little by putting in the effort to write reviews semi-regularly. So here goes!

First of all, I have to point out that I was a massive fan of Common Man's Collapse in the first place and have been very excited about getting a hold of this album for a long time now. I was certainly not disappointed! While I did find the album was slightly lacking a melodically stand-out track like Common Man's Collapse's It's Not Safe to Swim Today, it is more than made up by the sheer brutality of some of the hardest hitting guitar lines I've heard in a long time mixed with Brandon Butler's ferocious growls that make godzilla sound like a frustrated puppy. Stack this with some outstanding basslines, excellent (without being gimmicky or overdone) use of synths (see the track Resistance) and drums that put most other modern technical metal bands to shame and you have nothing short of one of the most potent metal albums of recent times. The whole album in general does seem more professional and well thought out than their last offering and creates a well crafted ambiance of foreboding and darkness without sacrificing any of the raw emotional power that featured so predominantly in Common Man's Collapse.

All this having been said, [Id] is not perfect (although it is hard not to feel that it's pretty damn close at times). As mentioned earlier, it maybe could have done with a stand-out track of some sort in order to relent a little from the musical onslaught that this album is. Also, the higher screams do seem a little weak at times. Apart from these two minor (and completely debatable) points, however, there's not really much in the way of downsides to this album.

By way of conclusion, this album truly is everything that modern technical metal should be standing for. This perfect combination of technicality, brutality, and melodic brilliance, all packaged together and wrapped up in excellent production leaves this an album to be reckoned with. Sumerian Records have become well known for being at the forefront of the new wave of heavy music in recent times and [Id] confirms that this reputation is not undeserved. I, personally, will be listening to this album for a long time to come.