Veil Of Maya - "Eclipse"

2/28/12 Sumerian Records

First things first, here's where the band got their name from. NOW, this is Veil Of Maya's fourth album, and they are definitely Chicago's finest. This album has everything you enjoy from this unique band, a roller coaster of time signatures, ridiculous over lapping riffs, and head bobbing greatness. Get ready for 30 minutes of the most unique and fun metal on the shelf.

It opens with an eerie intro which explodes into exactly what I was hoping to hear, classic Veil of Maya. Majority of this album is exactly what you'd expect with a few twists and tweaks, but if you already have a great (and different) sound, why bother changing it?! With "Divide Paths", "Punisher", "The Glass Slide", and "Vicious Circles" showing the already great and heavy side of VOM, songs like "Winter Is Coming Soon" and "Enter Dreams" show the evolving side of the band with a little bit of a different sound. The title track is an excellent, and slower instrumental song with great usage of the double bass drums and has a very jammy feel, and (in my opinion) would've been perfect as a closing track. I don't care if 'jammy' isn't a word, its the best way to describe the vibe. The album ends "With Passion and Power", a track that could have been on VOM's first or second album, these fellas haven't lost their sound one bit, and that's a good thing.

"Eclipse" keeps a solid pace and flow throughout the whole album, the band pumps out the same style and sound we all love, yet keeps it fresh and exciting. They've perfected the art of metal and musical entertainment as a whole, and for that, my ears are thankful. LISTEN TO VEIL OF MAYA.

T.R.A.M. – “Lingua Franca”
2/28/12 Sumerian Records

Let me introduce you to my new friend T.R.A.M., they are a delicious ‘supergroup’ fusion from different realms of music. Adrian Terrazas (The Mars Volta) on saxophone, flute, bass clarinet and percussion, Javier Reyes and Tosin Abasi (Animals As Leaders) on guitars, and Eric Moore (Suicidal Tendencies) on drums. “Lingua Franca” is their debut album, and even though it’s just about 30 minutes in duration, it’s packed with awesomeness. If you’re a fan of metal, jazz, thinking outside the box, Animals As Leaders, The Mars Volta, or….music in general, you’re going to love this album.

Firstly, a lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue. Music perhaps?

Recurring words I found in my notes: Groove, jazz, sax, jam, music theory, perfect, sex.

Right when you start listening you can hear the heavy influences from all the bands involved in this group, which makes for a great mixture and final product. “Seven Ways Till Sunday” is a very jazzy, slow groove, jam session, quite possibly one of the best jam sessions of all time. They add some soothing female vocals in this track, as well as “HASS Kicker” and “Inverted Ballad”. One of the more unique tracks “Consider Yourself Judged” is very jazzy and sporadic, yet it stays on course and makes for a great great track and musical experience. The next track is “Endeavor”, and it couldn’t be named anything more appropriate for the sound. The guitar parts on this track specifically are very Animal As Leaders-esque. And might I add, some awesome flute work! Then we stumble upon “HASS Kicker”, very slow and mellow, the sexiest track on the album, slightly reminds me of the quieter side of Pink Floyd for the first 2 and a half minutes, then it reverts back to the sound that we’ve been enjoying for the past 3 tracks. “Hollywood Swinging” is a very jazz oriented song, and while it tapers down at the end it uses vocal harmonies as an instruments and it’s fantastic and very different. We’ve come to the end with “Inverted Ballad”, a slow song that closes off the album and incorporates all of its members, instruments, music theory, and elements perfectly. You can literally fell the song saying goodbye to the listener, and all you want is another track…..two….or ten.

I’m not fully sure how to describe this album or this band. It’s a fusion, an experience, a musical journey, a melting pot, its….perfection. I hope to hear A LOT more from T.R.A.M.

February 17th, 2012:

In Flames with Trivium and Veil of Maya at the Worcester Palladium.

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