V.E.I.N. – Blood Oaths

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From Bandcamp, “As enigmatic and foully underground as it comes, V.E.I.N. was formed at some point during the new millennium by prolific underground veteran Death Fiend. While the man has played for a multitude of bands along the American East Coast, V.E.I.N. is meant to be its own entity - and one that's uncompromisingly singular and rudely transgressive in its vision. This is the band’s debut full-length, and contains eight songs.

“Total Vascular Collapse” is the first. It features several different spoken word passages that seem to come from all around you. Could they be subliminal messages? Since there are many and they have different rhythms, it is hard to tell. A riff eventually comes in and a muted, Black Metal sound ensues. “Malign Blood Oath” is another song that begins with eerie spoken words. What follows is a dark and chaotic sound that seems to come from the depths of Hell. “The Black Eye of Eibon” begins without spoken words, the music just flows from the foul mouth of the vocals. Unfortunately, these are riffs that you have heard before, and it sounds somewhat amateur in nature.

“Banishment of Blood” is a short, two-minute offering of evil music and vile words that float on the background as well as grunts that sound like they come from an animal. “L.S.D.” is another song that features eerie spoken words that surround the listener. At the very least, this is something different, because the music is pretty standard sounding. “Sangre Libertad” is even shorter, with a blast of Black Metal amidst more (presumably) subliminal messages from the vocals. “Warlocks Witches and Demons” features a variety of different sounds…some vocals, some words, and a bevy of chaotic instruments. It would be hard pressed to call this a song in the traditional sense.

“Bloodstained Symmetry” closes the album. It’s a seven-minute song. The opening riff is slow, powerful and evil sounding. Chaos begins to pick up, amidst some spastic guitar leads. The guitar phaser effects are quite trippy. Overall, this was a different approach to the genre, which is noteworthy. But the effects and background noises were almost as loud as the music itself. In the end, these gimmicks were not enough to outweigh the awful production nor the mediocre songwriting on the album. Something for a scary night in the house by yourself? Sure. Something to add to your playlist? Probably not.

Songwriting: 5
Musicianship: 5
Memorability: 3
Production: 6