Wednesday 5 August 2015

MAKE - The Golden Veil (Album Review)


Release date: July 17th 2015. Label: Self Released. Formats: DD/Vinyl

The Golden Veil: Tracklisting

1.I Was Sitting Quietly, Peeling Back My Skin 04:04
2.Breathe 08:41
3.The Immortal 07:02
4.We Are Coiled ** 04:57
5.The Absurdist 07:27
6.The Architect 11:12
7.In the Final Moments, Uncoiling ** 08:33

Band Members:

Scott Endres - guitar, synthesizers, vocals
Spencer Lee - bass, vocals
Matt Stevenson - drums, beats

Review:

MAKE return with their 2nd full length album – The Golden Veil. The Golden Veil is a very different album to Trephine with the band focusing more on harsher environments with a more experimental vibe. If you‘re a fan of Trephine you’ll find a lot to admire here. As MAKE continue creating another epic musical Sludge/Post-Metal journey for you to immerse yourself with.

Opening track – I Was Sitting Quietly, Peeling Back My Skin – opens with pounding and ambient driven noises slowly appearing in the background. A slowly played acoustic guitar feels like a warning that something dangerous is coming your way as the song quietly ends in the background with industrial atmospherics leaving you wanting more.

Second track – Breathe – offers a more familiar sound from MAKE as the Post-Metal atmospherics appear to continue the epic riffs that feel they’ve originated from Trephine. The post-rock theatrics blend superbly with the death based growls as MAKE their appearance known. MAKE have added a twisted style of Psychedelic Sludge Metal as it has a sheer scale of menace with intelligence to match.

Third song – The Immortal – continues the cinematic post-rock theatrics with lead vocalist Scott offering a more haunting outlook on life. The music starts at a slow pace but slowly builds to loud volumes that should have fans of Neurosis happy for the next 7 mins or so. The music is complex through out as MAKE have written lyrics that have a hidden depth of emotion to them. The final few minutes of the song sees MAKE unleash epic and heavy progressive riffs that will leave you in a bleak mood.

Fourth Track – We Are Coiled – is an instrumental ambient/post rock driven affair with the band opting for a “Less Is More” approach as the Sludge/Post-Metal riffs are kept to a minimum. This song could have come from Scott’s solo project – The Pod. The ambient noises and effects drive this song to its natural conclusion of peace and solitude.

Fifth Track – The Absurdist – opens with another Post-Rock interlude with delicate guitars played against the intelligent drumming and Scott’s clean based vocals offering a more surreal slice of music for you to experience. MAKE finally unleash heck on earth towards the end of the song with thunderous post-metal riffs and it comes at the right time. As the album has remained fairly silent for so long that and it’s good to see MAKE finally return to the early mood of the album where the mood was violent and destructive to the very end. The song ends without a word of warning and you’re plunged back into the almost silent post-rock driven world.

For the sixth track – The Architect – MAKE play slow-paced guitars with ambient noises offering a more drone based atmosphere compared to the other songs. It’s the longest song on the album at 11 mins and it’s a song that can be classed as two halves. The first half being – Ambient/Drone Post Rock and the second being the nightmarish Sludge/Post-Metal well almost Post-Black Metal as the brutal vocals take things into another direction. MAKE continue experimenting with sonic based noises and rhythms as The Architect firmly leaves a lasting impression on you.

The final track – In the Final Moments, Uncoiling – captures the full tone of the album perfectly. Ambient/Post-Rock noises matched against the heavier and more disturbing Sludge/Post-Metal/Doom & Gloom theatrics. It sees MAKE venture into the realm that Godflesh perfected many years ago. It’s to the bands credit this song whilst mostly bleak, offers a sense of hope and optimism with the haunting riffs that are played in the background.

Looking back on this album, MAKE have created something very different to Trephine and that’s a good thing. It maybe more Ambient/Post-Rock orientated to Trephine but it doesn’t stop The Golden Veil becoming slightly more dangerous and even more adventurous than their celebrated debut album. The Golden Veil is already starting to win these guys major acclaim and it’s not hard to see why. The Golden Veil is a challenging and even frustrating album to listen to at times but there’s no denying it’s a powerful statement of intent from one of the rising stars of the Sludge/Post-Metal world.

Thanks to MAKE for the promo. The Golden Veil is out to buy now on DD/Vinyl.

Words by Steve Howe

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