It was The Kennedy Veil’s second album, 2014’s Trinity of Falsehood, which really put them on the tech-death map.  It was their first album on Unique Leader records, and was a twisting, darting, riff-filled affair that really announced the quartet as a potential force to be reckoned with and demonstrated some incredibly deft musicianship.

Well fast-forward to 2017, and an album I was really looking forward to have jumped to contender for “Most Disappointing Album of the Year”.  The main reason?  The vocal change.  Gone is Taylor Wientjes (Inanimate Existence) whose powerful vocal style fit Trinity perfectly, and in stepped Monte Barnard, and holy hell is he BAD.  TKV have now went from a tech-death band to a pretty bad wanna-be tech-death/semi-deathcore band (anyone still reading?).  And Barnard makes judicial use of the raspy scream, which is probably my least liked vocal style in all of metal, so I will get that disclaimer out there now.  His death growl is quite good, but the other style just ruins any enjoyment.

As for the rest of the music, it’s definitely slowed down a bit, and based on your tastes that’s a good or bad thing (but for me personally this was a huge step back).  The band does mix in some symphonic elements in the first few tracks, which I have often felt add a nice layer of depth to most death metal, and they do so as well here. The drumming is still phenomenal, as original member Gabe Seeber (Decrepit Birth, Alterbeast, Abysmal Dawn) still kills it behind the kit.  KC Childers is back on guitar, but he’s WAY underutilized compared to how good he was on Trinity.  The production is awesome, with Zack Ohren (Animosity, Suffocation, All Shall Perish) once again proving to be one of the best in the business.

If you need a tech-death fix check out the new Decrepit Birth from a few months ago.  You’ll be much happier. 

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