Remove the veil-Another way home

Facedown
2007

I love it when an album has a strong opening track and “The Crux” qualifies as a solid opener. It lashes out with a solid riff and some aggressive vocals and perhaps most importantly it sets the standard for the rest of the rest of the album. Remove the veil are not busting down any barriers or creating any new styles on this album. Yet they are confident and capable enough to pull off a rather deliberate blending of metal and hard rock. Their energy and non-nonsense approach also help them sound relatively fresh even if they aren’t bringing along anything that new. The music is overall somewhat basic and draws on elements of classic metal, 1980’s hard rock and even a little of 1990’s rock. Yet it’s all tied up into a pretty attractive package largely just due to the presentation. They obviously enjoy what they are doing, but it’s just edgy enough to really keep your interest. I admire and welcome the energy that the band brings as they fly through the songs here. I also have to mention the production which manages to pull forth the best parts of their sound without stripping it too much. Too many bands playing this style tend to get overproduced, but fortunately that’s not the case here. The vocals are a little one-dimensional at times, but that could change if they grow as songwriters. My only other concern is where they go from here. They are drawing so much from established styles that their sound may become old rather quick if they don’t show some musical growth. Their musical and writing abilities may need to grow or at least adapt for this band to move on. Although I think and hope that they have a promising career ahead of them.