CoC : Veil - Dolor : Review

Veil - _Dolor_
by: T. DePalma (4 out of 5)

_Dolor_ is the latest in the long line of Burzum inspired projects, the result of that lineage including relevant mentions here to Abyssic Hate and I Shalt Become. This demo cassette is composed of three original songs (plus one cover) that admirably reflect an attention to craft and succeed in their intent. Veil's budgetless guitar sound creates a deluge of chords layered upon each other, drifting slowly, immersing the tape in an atmosphere of illusion. Like the brume filled forest hills captured on the cover that bear a striking resemblance to wolf's fur, _Dolor_ is hidden beneath a thicket of distortion that warps the tonal voice of the instruments (pretty sure these are not keyboards) and creates a feral resonance, but eases one into slumber with the delicate scratches of death. This is a slow working poison, very effective, but not as potent as its enlightened source material. Ironically, a cover of "Ea, Lord of the Depths" sounds out of place here. It's a run-of-the mill performance that throws off the pace for an unnecessary homage (the first three songs tell us enough) and comes close to canceling the notion that this project could rise to something beyond a pastiche. _Dolor_ is a finely composed demo, able to last through repeated listens (probably boosted by the total brevity of the work) but expect no surprises as this tape represents a sound well exhausted and put to rest some time ago.

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(article published 27/6/2005)