ALBUM REVIEW: SE/CT – Veiled
In recent years deathcore has gone from being one of the hated subgenres of metal, to being brought to the forefront of the face of metal with the help of LORNA SHORE and FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY. But if you dig deeper into the underground, you’ll find some absolute gems. In this case we have VEILED, hailing from West Yorkshire. In early 2023 they released their debut EP, The Black Rite to critical acclaim, and since then have been rising through the ranks to them having the chance to play The Doghouse Stage at Download Festival 2024.
Now here we are, their debut album SE/CT is the amalgamation of LORNA SHORE’s aggressive power doubled down with their personal spin to add a sweet layer of melody you don’t hear to often in deathcore. Across the 14 tracks you’re greeted with a lot of layers combined with savagely clean production that makes the songs sound bigger.
As the album starts, you’re greeted with tribal drums banging away as a news-report-like tape is played detailing abductions in the local area and a single line dropped on you that gives an indication of the album to follow. ‘Nobody said, anyone could be a target.’ After that line is heard you’re then thrown into a tornado of pure chaos that is opening track Forgive Me. Kyle Dawson’s feral vocals tear through the barrage of wailing guitars and bludgeoning drums. From here the symphonic elements are brought into the fold adding to the already densely layered attack. Rob Hemmingway does a blistering job on guitar but adding in his clean vocals to the mix makes everything congeal into a tight assault.
Lead guitarist Sam McEvoy stands tall across the 14 songs of carnage, his simplistic guitar work elevates quickly to more complex details on the Sentence as he holds the melody in his fingers and fretboard. Lament is easily the heaviest song on the album with Dawson holding nothing back with his visceral high screeches slicing through the band and overpowering them on parts, not that it’s a bad thing as his deep gutturals crumble the tectonic plates underneath you. Drummer Jamie Tucker is a furious machine from the first note he hits to the last cymbal you hear, providing his most aggressive contribution on Deathchoke with hits drum kit raking the brunt of the attack backed by bassist Adam Gadsby who provides a searing bass tone throughout SE/CT.
Through the journey you undertake on SE/CT, respite is almost impossible to come by. Brief samples continuing the news story from the beginning of the album are played adding an additional story to the dark undertones already on show. Even in the eyes of VEILED there are still more gruesome nightmares to behold. From the abductions warned about in the samples, the sickening heaviness of the instrumentals from the band make it somewhat unnerving to grasp.
SE/CT is an impressive output for a debut album. Since releasing a handful of singles from 2022 and putting an EP out, it sounds like VEILED have been doing this for years. They still have a ways to go, but this album is an impressive start to a clearly bright future for VEILED. If you’re looking for the proverbial golden goose of deathcore, look no further than SE/CT.
Rating: 8/10
SE/CT is set for release on October 18th via Seek & Strike.
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