Metal as seen by outsiders who don’t listen to the genre is
a garbled mess of instruments being played a beyond comprehensible speed mashed
together into what sounds and feels like a literal wall of noise. Not the wall
of sound idea made popular by Phil Spector in the 60’s, but more of a wall of
sound that’s crumbling down and burying you alive. Now as a metal head we
generally scoff this stuff off and move on because we’re more trained to hear
the subtleties and the talent packed into these walls of noise. There’s almost
a challenge to it and it makes repeat listens that much more important and
enjoyable.
Technical death metal outfit The Kennedy Veil presents such
a challenge. From the very get go The
Trinity Of Falsehood is ablaze with speed and technicality that by the end
you might feel out of breath. It’s on a similar level to Fleshgod Apocalypse
(although I’m not sure anyone really quite touches Fleshgod Apocalypse in this
manner) and Hour Of Penance. It’s hard not to simply awe at the sheer amount of
speed at which these guys play constantly. Then you sit back and realize that
even though they are playing at unyielding speed these guys aren’t just piling
on mountains of wankery and nonsense. This album is packed to the brim, but it
feels incredibly complete and flows very well.
The Kennedy Veil’s motto is ‘No throwbacks, no breakdowns,
no wanking, no trends. Modern American Brutal Death Metal!’ and to that end
they are definitely sticking to their guns. Trinity
Of Falsehood is through and through death metal, with no drivel. Their
sound is very clean and crisp, which can be either good or bad depending on how
you look at it. On the one hand they’re production sounds very similar to many
other bands out there, and doesn’t feel like it’s really their own, but on the other
hand that’s true for most bands and this clean production allows for every
single instrument to be heard and the mix is very well done. There also is
basically zero emphasis on atmosphere with this album, which being that the
sound is already incredibly packed, it likely would have been obnoxious to
throw in some ambience and it honestly probably wouldn’t have been fitting to
their sound.
The Kennedy Veil easily have the makings to be at the
forefront of technical death metal. It’s a burgeoning subgenre with tons to
offer. The focus on a clean sound and strong writing will definitely help separate
these guys from bands that seem to be solely about speed and not about writing
ability. There’s plenty to love here and The Kennedy Veil have a very bright
future ahead of themselves.
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