Music INSIGHT
by Benjamin Nunnally
M
etal is a subjective genre, just
like any other, though fans will
try to tell a different story.
There’s death metal, which is just
what it says on the box. Doom metal is a
thick, sludgy brand of downtempo heavy
music. Power metal is the opposite, an ultra-fast, “happy” variety of metal. The more
obsessive fans like to filter bands into easy
categories like these, but sometimes bands
just won’t fit into any specific box, no matter how many you try. Anniston’s VEDA is
one such case.
“I like to use the term progressive metalcore,” said Devin Williams, VEDA’s singer.
“The new term I guess is ‘djent.’”
Other band members, like guitarist Tony
Brauer and drummer Brad McCollum, dismiss the label almost immediately, leaving
it up to listeners to decide what they want
to call the band when they hear the group’s
upcoming six-song EP, “INNOVADE,” set to
release July 28. It will be the band’s first official album, featuring a solidified lineup including guitarist Rob Green and new bass-
ist Cheyenne Graves, with Williams taking
over vocal duties for his brother, and also
the band’s first with two guitars in the mix
instead of three. The resulting album is
tight, clean and full of surprises.
The EP fires off with "The Elizabethan Era,"
an anthemic study in relationships delivered by a disillusioned voice, with a screamalong choruses riding over complex riffing
and damningly fierce drumming.
"Quest for the Number One Headband"
begins as the kind of mosh-pit beater that
metal fans clamber to, before breaking into
intricate guitar and vocal harmonies, then
returning to blast beats beneath relatively peaceful vocals that overlay the chaos.
"Headband" serves as a handy field guide
for interpreting the overall style of the album, a thing made of contrasts, surprise
changes in tempo, aggression and style.
The remaining songs continue the theme
of constant change: "Thanatos" begins with
a prog-rock riff before turning into a violent churn; "The North Remembers" takes
staccato stabs at metalcore rhythms before
July 2015
INSIGHT