Taking a ride through distorted past-life memories in the process of fostering profound awareness of the vibrational constancy emanating from all matter finds Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based death metal band VIOGRESSION accessing a quest of metaphysical awareness, centering their sights on the nature of reality via meditative occult ritual magic on this fourth full-length album. Although ‘Thaumaturgic Veil‘ is an record from a band whose name first made its mark in the late 80’s/early 90’s heyday of thrashing death metal it manifests with only some of those stylistic and sonic sensibilities in mind. Their work here once again brings some semblance of their old ways in bursts yet it is a crisply presented, modern death metal album which offers its own vision carried directly beyond the standard set by their previous record, sprawling with its own fixations beyond plainest ‘old school’ tradition.

Viogression was a logical progression beyond thrash metal projects Rape (ca. 1987) and Apocalypse (ca.1988-1989) unto something more brutal and extreme between vocalist Bryan DeNeffe, the three Jaeger brothers and guitarists Leon Schendel and Eric Johnston most of whom contributed to earlier versions of the band or their infamous demo tapes including the best known ‘Perception Blur‘ (1990) which is for my own taste the best recording associated with their name. Most of that same lineup would contribute to the band’s debut ‘Expound & Exhort‘ (1991) as one of the more notable releases from the short-lived UK label Tombstone Records (re: Darklin Reach, Dementia, Silent Scream) as the band’d found their voice in mid-paced death metal beyond the demo phase. If you’re an ‘old school’ death metal fanatic who has ripped your way through the ancient and obscure you’ll find the major note on this band’s quick-and-dirty career centered around DeNeffe‘s vocal style and inflections matching those of John Tardy but their music had more to do with the tonality of their local Midwest scene and likely took more inspiration from early Death at that starting point.

The original history of the band was plagued by the unmastered, unfinished mix of their doomed and highly atmospheric second album (‘Passage‘, 1992) an apparently unauthorized release, at least part of the reason they’d moved on beyond that point initially. As was the case with Morbid Saint and a few other nearby bands who’re celebrated today when things went wrong the folks involved moved on and I’ll admit the return of Viogression is something I’ve not paid much attention solely for the reason their work hasn’t had all that much to do with their earliest sound outright. Keeping in mind I was personally tuning in with appreciation for the thrash ’til death transformation of the band of a certain era. I would count that second album among a small handful of actually pretty damned viable USDM full-lengths that’d never seen their full potential for the sake of label issues and/or growing disillusionment. I assume the old tapes either don’t exist or haven’t been restored but any recreation of ‘Passage‘ w/the original artwork would be a paradigm shift for the group in my opinion and I say that because that is the main reason I remember their name beyond the ‘Perception Blur‘ tape. Any death/doom metal fan who can appreciate a Tardy-esque vocal should check it out.

Reformed in 2003 and in working order by their 2014-released EP (‘A Pure Formality‘) the identity of the band was seemingly in question between melodic death, prog-death and such on that release to the point that I couldn’t find any connection to their past to latch onto beyond DeNeffe‘s voice. Several years later the band would finally return with ‘3rd Stage of Decay‘ (2022) an entirely pro affair, big production values from Dave Otero and a pretty choice album cover from Zbigniew M. Bielak all of which (again) didn’t necessarily yield anything related to the band’s earlier work but it was a solid enough modern death metal album with groove, death/doom, prog and thrash metal influences. This new album reprises those production values, enjoys that same hi-fi sound, but doesn’t try to do so many things, or, at least not all at once. You can head in expecting a slightly less cluttered continuation of their new sound and not a full-bore nostalgic release, something in-between.

While the old school obsessed aren’t going to find a “retro” album in ‘Thaumaturgic Veil‘ the general sound of Viogression appears more tinted with Florida death metal inspiration in general. This album is no less polished and/or adventurous than their prior LP, and definitely goes places unrelated to the band’s past, yet it doesn’t sound entirely out of place in their discography per a handful of these nineteen tracks. Nine of those are technically intros and interludium, either sourced collages or instrumental segue which frame the album’s theme of metaphysical lifeforce accessed through meditation. The effect shouldn’t be so alien for the average death metal fan as similar approaches from Acheron, Pestilence, Messiah and even the oddly narrated debut from Resurrection all famously used frequent interludes on their records in order to suit an ambitious theme. Frequent readers know I rarely value or consider these types of filler/separators all that much but these are numerous and intentional to the point that they are key conduit for the meaning proposed by this album.

“Renumeration” has all of the seething, slow-thrummed chugging and trampling death metal groove one’d expect from a Viogression release where a mid-paced blast or eerily harmonized riff were simple yet second nature per the early 90’s they’d birthed within. Throw in a few dozen whammy dives and a doom-worthy riff in the second half and this was easily the piece that had me pausing to take a closer listen to ‘Thaumaturgic Veil‘. Of course the blackened drum machined rattle of “Travesty öv darkness” right after caught me a bit off guard but I’d warned of this, they’re not that keen on sounding like an absolute relic in terms of style and most all of these decisions are well founded; The most profound juxtaposition, or example of crossed wires which characterizes his album comes between the mid-90’s groove metal influenced strikes of “Pummeled” and the more technical, almost progressive death metal strokes of “Superposition” where we step from something from the age of angst and then on toward a rock guitar infused version of Florida’s earlier progressive death metal dabbling. Some of the album’s better leads hit somewhere within those two songs.

“Vulnus Sclopetarium” brings a few thrash riffs, technical death scrapes, and even a few breakdowns into the mix. This is a bridge too far for my own taste and I my brain checks out as the odd tonal uncertainty of the piece sinks in. “Eaten by Flies” reprises some of the feeling that “Renumeration” offered via a strange speed metallic, Master-esque gallop with an odd twang to is groove and while these aren’t the most compelling rhythmic ideas I’ve ever heard on a death metal album the thread is interesting enough on the trot through. It feels a bit too “fun” at that point and the weight of death metal atmosphere is lost to the rocking ride at hand. Otherwise Viogression‘ve reserved some of the album’s best songs for last starting with with “Summon”, the most key song on Side B per my own taste; Overall the listening experience is uneven and not as intense as a death metal album typically would be in the middle.

While I do not believe this album will stick in mind for long, much of its riffcraft does very little of interest, it is still a solid listen in continuation of the Viogression name. Because I am more interested in the sound and fury of the band’s original albums I’d not made a huge connection with ‘Thaumaturgic Veil‘ beyond a few strong pieces (i.e. “Renumeration”, “Summon”) and the compelling vocal style/tone applied throughout. Anyone who’d enjoyed their previous record will likely appreciate this album just as well, they’ve held fast to that already high standard of performance and render while tightening up their stylistic focus herein. A moderately high recommendation.

https://viogressionofficial.bigcartel.com/product/thaumaturgic-veil

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