metalcore
Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...
band, formed in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, by members Marc Okubo and Sam Applebaum in 2004. They are currently signed to
Sumerian Records
Sumerian Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and London. The label was founded in 2006 by Ash Avildsen.deathcore
Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore breakdowns. While there are some precursors to the concept of death metal fused with met ...
, but their fifth album, ''
Matriarch
Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property.
While those definitions apply in general E ...
'', is considered to be
metalcore
Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...
. They have also been associated with
djent
Djent () is a subgenre of progressive metal characterised by its use of off-beat and complex rhythm patterns. Its distinctive sound is that of high-gain, distorted, palm-muted, down-tuned strings. The name "djent" is an onomatopoeia of this s ...
.
History
Formation and demo (2004–2006)
Veil of Maya formed in 2004 in Chicago, Illinois after
melodic death metal
Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavine ...
band Insurrection broke up, which led members Marc (lead guitar), Sam (drums) and Kris (bassist) to start up the new project. Guitarist Timothy Marshall and vocalist Adam joined shortly thereafter.
After recording a self-released demo in 2005, guitarist Scott Okarma briefly joined the group, participating in local shows and early touring. At this point, Veil of Maya were a six-piece band with three guitarists, but this only lasted for a few months before both Marshall and Okarma left the band. Bryan Ruppell replaced them both on rhythm guitar thus reverting their lineup back to five members.
''All Things Set Aside'' and ''The Common Man's Collapse'' (2006–2009)
With this five member line-up, the band recorded, self-produced and released their debut full-length album '' All Things Set Aside'' through Corrosive Recordings in 2006. In early 2006 vocalist Clemans and guitarist Ruppell left the group leading Veil of Maya to enlist the help of then 20-year-old Brandon Butler, former vocalist of the Indiana metal band Iscariot. The band also decided not to search for a new rhythm guitarist, thus leaving Veil of Maya as a four-piece.
In January 2008, after heightened exposure from interviews and successful tours, Veil of Maya signed with
Sumerian Records
Sumerian Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and London. The label was founded in 2006 by Ash Avildsen.The Common Man's Collapse'' was recorded with Butler in 2008 and released the same year. Shortly after the album release, the band parted ways their original bassist Kristopher "Kris" Higler in 2009, and was replaced by Matthew Pantelis, formerly of Born of Osiris.
''Id'' and ''Eclipse'' (2010–2012)
After their second album's release, the following several months held extensive touring before the writing and recording for the group's third full-length, '' Id'' began. ''Id'' was released on April 6, 2010, and reached number 107 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The band worked again with producer Michael Keene from
The Faceless
The Faceless are an American technical death metal band from the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles. They released their debut album, ''Akeldama'', in November 2006, and a follow-up, '' Planetary Duality'', in November 2008. The band's third ...
for this album, who previously produced ''The Common Man's Collapse''. The album's name was derived from the main character of the PlayStation game ''
Xenogears
''Xenogears'' is a 1998 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation video game console. It is the debut entry in the larger ''Xeno (series), Xeno'' franchise. ...
''; the album itself also holds several concepts and references to other topics in popular culture, especially television shows.
After the release of ''Id'', Pantelis as well left the band, which led to Danny Hauser replacing him in 2010; the band's current bassist. On January 13, 2012, Sumerian Records released a teaser for Veil of Maya's next album, ''
Eclipse
An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...
''. On January 17, the single "Vicious Circles" was released onto the
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
. ''Eclipse'' was then released on February 28, 2012 and was produced and co-written by
Periphery
Periphery or peripheral may refer to:
Music
*Periphery (band), American progressive metal band
* ''Periphery'' (album), released in 2010 by Periphery
* "Periphery", a song from Fiona Apple's album '' The Idler Wheel...''
Gaming and entertainm ...
guitarist
Misha Mansoor
Misha Mansoor (born October 31, 1984), also known as Bulb after the name of his solo project, is an American musician, best known as the founder of and one of the three guitarists in the progressive metal band Periphery. He is also a part of ...
.
On November 11, 2013 the band released a digital-only single, ''Subject Zero'', with a lyric video uploaded on YouTube two weeks earlier, on September 30, 2013.
Recording of new album and Butler's departure (2013–2014)
Veil of Maya announced in 2014 that they had finished writing the follow-up to ''Eclipse'' and were recording with
Taylor Larson
Taylor Larson (born April 28, 1988) is an American record producer, mixer, and audio engineer. He has produced, engineered, and/or mixed tracks for Asking Alexandria, Periphery, From First to Last, I See Stars, Veil of Maya, Within Temptation, ...
. However, progress was stopped as long-time vocalist Brandon Butler left the band, citing creative differences with his bandmates. Butler moved on to join a band named Lost Origins, which features former members of I Declare War.
Magyar's arrival and ''Matriarch'' (2014–2016)
At Knotfest 2014, Veil of Maya were seen performing with a new vocalist, who is well known in the local music scene of the state of Wisconsin, on January 1, 2015 it was announced that Arms of Empire vocalist Lukas Magyar joined the band replacing the departed Butler. At the same time, the band released a new single, "Phoenix".
Shortly after the announcement, the band headed out on the "Slow Your Troll and Know Your Role" tour with Upon a Burning Body, Volumes, Gideon and The Last Ten Seconds of Life. They also took part in the Ashes to Ashes European Tour with
Chelsea Grin
Chelsea Grin is an American deathcore band from Salt Lake City, Utah. Formed in 2007, the group have released two EPs and five full-length albums. Since 2018, no original members remain in the band.
Chelsea Grin was originally founded under ...
,
Oceans Ate Alaska
Oceans Ate Alaska are a British metalcore band hailing from Birmingham formed in 2010. The band are currently signed to Fearless Records and are known for "uniting boundaries between multiple genres in modern metal" and for "fusing unpredict ...
and Black Tongue (Black Tongue pulled out within the first few shows due to an injury sustained by frontman Alex Teyen).
On March 23, 2015, Veil of Maya officially announced the release of a new album, ''Matriarch'', and released a new single, "Mikasa". The album was released on May 12, 2015 through Sumerian Records. It is the band's first release with Magyar, and represents somewhat of a departure from the style of the band's previous releases: it is less focused on technicality and is their first work to incorporate clean singing and replaces growling with hardcore-style
screaming
A scream is a loud speech production, vocalization in which air is passed through the vocal cords with greater force than is used in regular or close-distance vocalisation. This can be performed by any creature possessing lungs, including human ...
.
''False Idol'' (2017–present)
On September 13, 2017, the band released a music video "Overthrow" on YouTube, and announced the album ''False Idol'' for October 20, 2017. The music video for the band's second single "Doublespeak" was added to YouTube on October 3, 2017.
On September 12, 2019, they released the single "Members Only" off a future unknown album. On May 3, 2020, the band released a music video for the single "Outsider" and an animated music video for their single “Viscera” on February 27, 2021, from the presumed unannounced album. On October 6, 2021, their single "Outrun" was uploaded to YouTube as a music video. On April 20, 2022, the band released a new single, "Synthwave Vegan".
Members
Current
* Marc Okubo – lead guitar (2004–present); rhythm guitar (2007–present); programming (2014–present)
* Sam Applebaum – drums (2004–present)
* Danny Hauser – bass (2010–present)
* Lukas Magyar – vocals (2014–present)
Former
* Scott Okarma – guitars (2006)
* Timothy Marshall – rhythm guitar (2004–2006)
* Adam Clemans – vocals (2004–2007)
* Bryan Ruppell – rhythm guitar (2006–2007)
* Kristopher Higler – bass (2004–2009)
* Matthew C. Pantelis – bass (2009–2010)
* Brandon Butler – vocals (2007–2014)