Get used to hearing the name Vein they are about to become your new heavy music obsession. From the opening moments of Virus://Vibrance with its warped jungle beats and down-tuned guitars that smash you around the head like The Dillinger Escape covering debut album era Slipknot, this is an album that won’t let you go for its entire duration.
What Vein have created here in Errorzone is a caustic, frenzied whirlwind of an all-out sensory assault that will leave you dizzy and breathless. One of the most appealing and seemingly deliberate things this album does is mould all of its songs together seamlessly into one long nightmarish journey. No downtime. No Mercy, just pure punishing hardcore metal.
It’s not until you get to Broken Glass Complexion that you realise that you are actually 4 tracks into the album, and just as that realisation has kicked in you are greeted with the sound of clanging violent alarm that is underpinned by drumming and some dark menacing vocals, which draw you in long enough to grab your attention before once again the track has melted away and we are on to the next.
Doomtech is perhaps one of the most aptly titled tracks on the album because it’s very techy, but has a doomy undercurrent especially in the bass sound. It also employs a nice mix of screams and melodic vocals which brings about a nice balance and makes it easily one of the most accessible tracks on the album.
The album’s title track goes for broke and has some really nice mid-paced moments and a lush singing section that has a familiar tone to it, that is reminiscent of some of the more ambient moments in Deftones catalogue. There are moments of beauty displayed inside the horror, kind of like an apple covered in razor blades.
Quitting Infinity closes the album in the style it started, kick and screaming but less frantically. It’s a heavy track with a hazy midsection that grinds along and chooses to prolong the beat down rather than just walloping you in the face and running away. It takes its time getting the point across and even though it’s the longest song on the album it’s probably the most well-paced, leaving an impression on the listener as the album draws to a close.
Errorzone is an album that has a lot going on. It’s a frantic album that feels like a mental breakdown set to music. It feels very much of a time period and recalls a lot of 90’s hardcore and nu-metal in places, but also has a lot of Dillinger Escape Plan and Code Orange vibes. Basically, it’s a throwback to rich era but also a stark vision of the future all wrapped up in a disgustingly violent package. This will likely end up being one of the most talked about albums of the year with good reason, it’s exciting. compelling and an essential listen from a band that has all the potential in the world, and all the time they need to harness it
