The Lifted Veil – Genocidal Bliss of Heaven

Written by on 23-06-2024 at 21:00.

Extremities within the musical spectrum can be interpreted in various ways. Sometimes music is extremely inaccessible, absurd, or loaded with an wicked amount of strange influences. And sometimes music is extremely violent, bizarrely fast, and occasionally melodic, without any calm passages. To the latter category belongs the debut album Genocidal Bliss of Heaven by the Finnish band The Lifted Veil.

Production-wise  a dirty blanket is draped over this extreme music, which the drums are mostly able to cut through. Think of the sound of any Hate Eternal album, where impact and aggressiveness are common denominators as well. The Lifted Veil distinguishes itself, however, with the black metal nuances in the riffs, leads, and, not to forget, the monstrous vocals. The Finnish language adds a supplementary unpredictable edge to the otherwise predominantly English lyrics. Expect some peculiar clean chants that positively contribute to the atmosphere as well, notably audible during the long, closing track The Cult of Deformed Sanctity.

Kirkkauden Kutsu (the call of glory) takes us straight into the action. The way the sextet fearlessly unleashes musical mayhem may be a bit overwhelming for untrained ears at first. My mentioning of Hate Eternal surely was not a coincidence and this may be bread and butter for Archgoat aficionados as well. The latter, of course, remains firmly within black metal territory, yet the impact is similar. The drummer keeps on pounding with his lightning-fast double bass kicks like a lumberjack gone wild. Don’t fear for a lack of variety, however, as the fierce blast beats, insane leads, and riffs leave little room for complaining. All of this can be heard in the possessed tempo of Paradise of Parasites.

Grotesque Matrimony starts with more melody and allows for some cleaner and sharper black metal vocals. The drums once again come across as particularly fierce and unabashedly aggressive, as if we’re continuously under fire from a machine gun. The sharp vocals often remind me of those of Nachtgarm, forming an effective combination with the lower growls. During Imprisoned in Flesh, both hysteria and dissonance increase, resulting in a militant Finnish black metal anthem. Vihalla Siunattu (blessed by wrath/anger) pulverizes your hearing into dust and nothing but dust, but not before the hysterical guitar masturbation takes over your psyche. I also hear very arrhythmic and illogically placed drum work, fills, and other tricks that as a listener are hardly comprehensible, let alone describable. Utterly beastly! Harha is a track with an experimental character without sacrificing intensity. The last minute in particular is phenomenally hard, defying the laws of gravity.

The sonic slaughter progresses as the band frightens me with Hunting Season, only to end extremely hard but tastefully with the aforementioned The Cult of Deformed Sanctity. These Finns are welcome to stay for a while – say, the next 20 years – to write black/death metal. Damn it… It suddenly hits me that a tour with Nordjevel or perhaps Doedsvangr would fit perfectly. Promoters, are you reading this?

Score:

90/100

Label:

Independent, 2024

Tracklisting:

  1. Kirkkauden Kutsu
  2. Paradise of Parasites
  3. Grotesque Matrimony
  4. Imprisoned in Flesh
  5. Vihalla Siunattu
  6. Harha
  7. Hunting Season
  8. The Cult of Deformed Sanctity

Line-up:

  • Mikko Koskinen – Drums
  • Henri Kyllästinen – Guitars
  • Topi Hiltunen – Guitars
  • Juha Kivinen – Bass
  • Erkko Romo – Vocals
  • Marko Ala-Kleme – Vocals

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