REVIEW: VEILED - SE/CT

With the release of ‘SE/CT’, VEILED have given us our first taste of the real depths of their ability. The band have always shown their influences off - obvious influence from the likes of Motionless In White, Cradle Of Filth, Infant Annihilator and even Death are all-over their fantastic 2023 release ‘The Black Rite’. Whilst the bands earlier work is impressive, ‘SE/CT’ is a step-up that takes the best parts of ‘The Black Rite’ - the guitar work, production and especially the vocals have all improved – as well as, by all appearances, the band finding a more melodic sensibility which doesn't come across as forced so much as a natural evolution of their sound.

The album starts out with an intro track also entitled ‘SECT’, a slow and ominous melody

clocking in just over minute to set the tone of the record before we arrive at ‘Forgive Me’. The first full track on the album is punchy, metallic and takes no prisoners. The riffs that the track’s been built around have a chunky, almost thrash metal feel to them and yet notes of a neo-classical flair can also be felt throughout. The vocals are also on point, as the frontman’s screams are theatrical and ever-present throughout, however as the track winds down it’s hard not to worry about the potential for self-parody across the rest of the record.

‘The Sentence’ is next on the album; acting as one of the singles, you might expect more from this song and whilst the guitar harmonies are excellent, even straying into the world of djent at times, there is just something missing from ‘The Sentence’. The vocals lack depth and rely too heavily on the drums - even though the drums are still fairly monotonous - as well as the aforementioned guitar harmonies which seem to be doing most of the heavy lifting. On the next track ‘Lament’, the star of the show is the guitar, switching between a chuggy, bluesy main riff to a more technical style of playing in the chorus. It’s refreshing to see that the drums have some character to them here, not leaving the guitars to carry the song. It must also be noted that ‘Lament’, ‘Hellbound’ and ‘Deathchoke’ feel more like different parts of the 11 minute epic, rather than individual songs. This is the highlight of the album, with each piece of the puzzle tying seamlessly together with the others to develop the concept of the LP – that being a dystopian police-state who are actively hunting the band for reasons unknown, which we’re led to believe could tie into the band’s origin.

As we reach ‘The Root of Mans Impurity’, it marks the beginning of the second act of the

album - and things have gotten a lot darker here. There is clear influence from In Flames,

especially within the vocals where the frontman is clearly using almost the fullest extent of his

abilities as a vocalist. Vocal chops aside, arpeggiated riffs and fat drums make ‘The Root of

Mans Impurity’ the perfect opener to the second half the album which, along with the sludgier next track ‘Tides’, will doubtless be added to the bands setlist on their upcoming tour. ‘Asphyxiate’ and ‘The Awakening’ serve to act as one drawn out transitional track. ‘Asphyxiate’ sets an aggressive mood, which – albeit feeling a little slapdash - marries well with the ‘The Awakening’, where the band treats us to a touch more world-building as the album’s story is brought back into focus. It is obvious by this point that the world the band has constructed is one in which their hunters are afraid of the threat the band poses to the dystopian society of the world. The band are described as a cult-like organization responsible for leaving mysterious notes, abduction and more, and are called the SECT.

‘Hear Me, Pain’ is a thunderous onslaught of heavy metal magic, reminiscent of a call to the

Norse gods. The drums and guitar are interlocked and move with an almost pulsating rhythm, like a heartbeat being shocked by 15,000 volts. The band have tapped into a primal energy across the song, which will surely reach its full potential in a live setting. The frontman, for his part, is channelling his inner Max Cavalera as the vocal performance throughout the track is both ferocious and awe-inspiring, so we can only hope they play this on tour. ‘Omen of Torture’ is an assault on the senses in the best way possible - the darkness and sheer ferocity of the first few seconds share sounds with some early Darkthrone. This being the second of the album’s two singles, the more conventional sound is back although it is a lot less in your face when compared with ‘The Sentence’ and is certainly much better executed. Closing out the album is ‘Reverie’, a fantastic blend of nu and industrial metal that soundly carries us across proverbial finish line. The band is crying out into the void, with an eery fairground carousel noise that crafts the image all is lost, that the fight was all for nothing, despite their best efforts - a bittersweet send-off as we are left wondering whether the SECT will rise anew.

‘SE/CT’ is a solid effect by a band who are determined to be taken seriously by the world at

large and, although it is monotonous in places, this fact is mitigated by the record's overarching narrative of the band being hunted by a totalitarian police-state and them leading a rebellion from the shadows. This storyline makes this into far more than a simple deathcore album, as made clear by the bands willingness to experiment with various sub-genres, taking aspects of thrash, neo-classical, nu metal and more over the duration of the album. This is a very good start for VEILED, however there is room for improvement – with any luck the kinks will be worked out ahead of the next release and we’ll have a real force on our hands!

'SE/CT' will be released on October 18th via Seek & Strike.

Words: Frankie J Jupiter

Photos: VEILED