Vein.FM - This World is Going to Ruin You (Album Review)
Vein.FM - This World is Going to Ruin You
Released: March 4, 2022
Lineup:
Anthony Didio | vocals
Jeremy Martin | guitars
Jon Lhaubouet | bass
Matt Wood | drums
Benno Levine | Samples & Turntables
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When vocalist Anthony DiDio screams: “I'll be waiting for the pipe dream bombs to burst” in Vein.FM’s track ‘Demise Automation’ from their astonishing debut album Errorzone released in 2018, it would be safe to assume that this lyric’s power was completely undervalued in terms of its potency.
A “pipe dream” is by definition: “An idea or plan that is impossible or very unlikely to happen” as per the Cambridge Dictionary; a “pipe bomb” is in essence, a homemade bomb that in most designs, utilises a metal pipe - in a songwriting sense, these words have an incredible artistic flair without doubt. However, upon deeper interpretation and after some time has passed since the release of the quintet’s first LP, the explosion of these “pipe dream bombs” have been recognised globally and the acclaim was inconceivable. The pipe dream has in fact become reality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLyfSOOToiI
The record peaked at number 21 on the Hard Rock Billboard Chart in its first week of release; Rolling Stone, The AV Club and Revolver all cited the full-length as one of the best releases of 2018 and international tours followed supporting the likes of Every Time I Die, While She Sleeps, CrossFaith, Code Orange and Turnstile among many others. Vein.FM have remarkably created a genre of their own, landing somewhere around the mark of The Prodigy blended with the eerie side of Aphex Twin, fueled by mathcore greats Converge and early Norma Jean with fluctuations of nu metal thrown in for enhancement - this still only scratches the surface of their brand of “Electronic Nu Metal Mathcore”. Admittedly, the description is approaching the realms of insanity, but this scribe assures the readers it is not only an intelligible summation, it is an astounding fusion.
2022 finally brings the follow up full-length, the aptly titled This World Is Going To Ruin You which works on almost too many levels considering the state of our existence and more-so where the five-piece find themselves. The near one and a half minute long opener ‘Welcome Home’ serves as a countdown into the nightmare expedition that this second LP will take the listener on hauntingly, what can almost be visualised is seeing the chilling face from Apex Twin’s ‘Come To Daddy’ film clip screaming over the marching mathcore breakdowns. This intent is carried on flawlessly with ‘The Killing Womb’ that has notable inspiration from Converge’s You Fail Me. ‘Versus Wyoming’ recounts the intensity and structure-less splendour of Errorzone albeit a little too briefly. It’s been a long four years, but this delay has only enhanced the delightful danger of Vein.FM’s (gr)imagination.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HswXctEiNNA
‘Fear In Non Fiction’ is the outfit at their peak, channeling the dynamism of Cult Leader with textures of Botch initially - the real spine-tingling moment arrives later with a melodic vocal interlude bridge accredited to Thursday’s Geoff Rickly that completely transforms the song to a blend of the experimental post hardcore pioneers he formerly (and still on occasion) fronted, bonded with his power-violence and black metal project United Nations. ‘Lights Out’ is a more adventurous Knocked Loose recipe that leads into (thankfully) the experimental realm for Vein.FM with ‘Wherever You Are’ - this cut would actually fit on Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral; this seems unstable but in all honesty, this is the band’s vigorous virtuoso.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyGHxXaHmDY
‘Magazine Beach’ is in a sense, a sequel to both ‘Fear In Non Fiction’ and ‘Wherever You Are’ - a mostly melodic number that could offer as a very early B-Side from Alexisonfire’s catalogue; this escapism from brutality is rather short-lived as ‘Inside Design’ attacks with the aggression of Ion Dissonance in a one minute blast that confusincredibly concludes with scratching from turntables.
‘Hellnight’ is arguably the best introduction and definition to Vein.FM and their “Electronic Nu Metal Mathcore” formula - it nearly captures all of their derangement exquisitely. This is oddly then downsized with ‘Orgy In The Morgue’ that actually lacks a lot of the experimentation until the just after the two minute mark where a post-rock intermission offers a glimmer of light amidst the gloomy darkness.
‘Wavery’ has a modern industrial post-punk flirtation to begin that sits somewhere between 3TEETH and Youth Code which then ventures into an aura that From A Second Story Window perfected. The “goodbye letter” in ‘Funeral Sound’ is a Trent Reznor special and a musical territory that this writer is ecstatic that Vein.FM have explored in a more grand capacity. A creepy piano torment track that continues to amplify and tinker on the edge of eruption throughout its journey with incalculable tension, yet it never breaks that wall. Similar to diving deep into the ocean during a storm, where underwater there is an uncanny peace but on the surface there is a chaotic struggle. In either environment, one will face peril, which in turn suits the song title flawlessly.
How to surmise this expedition? Boston’s Vein.FM have matured in their madness; Errorzone in a sense, was a collection of psychotic songs, where This World Is Going To Ruin You IS an album. As French-Swiss film director Jean-Luc Godard once famously said: “A story should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order.” Vein.FM have undertaken this ‘Rebirth Protocol’ in a completely unrestricted mind-frame magnificently.
Vein.FM – This World Is Going To Ruin You tracklisting:
- Welcome Home
- The Killing Room
- Versus Wyoming
- Fear In Non Fiction
- Lights Out
- Wherever You Are
- Magazine Beach
- Inside Design
- Hellnight
- Orgy In The Morgue
- Wavery
- Funeral Sound
Rating: 8.5/10
The World Is Going To Ruin You is out this Friday via Closed Casket Activities/Nuclear Blast. Pre-order here
Review by Will Oakeshott @TeenWolfWill
