The phrase “ignorance is bliss,” coined by 18th-century poet Thomas Gray, seems to be an undeniable truism. However, bliss needn’t always be the end goal. One could make the case that it’s more interesting, exciting, and human to illuminate what terrifies you. One proponent of this idea is the rock songwriter Stephen Moore, who alongside musician Jon Ireson makes up the infernal Vancouver-based group Post Death Soundtrack. Having amassed a considerable back catalogue since 2008’s Music as Weaponry, the group’s fourth full-length Veil Lifter, features the tight drum stylings of Casey Lewis and is, according to the press release, a “meditation on mental illness and its underlying prevalence throughout the collective psyche.”
The songs here do have a ceaseless anxiety to them. After the mind-warbling and brief intro “At the Edge of It All”, which features spliced-up vocals and glitchy distortions, “The Die is Cast” erupts with punch-bag drum fills, a barrage of gloomily viscous guitars, and vocal performances that balance bitter aggression with the more sinisterly subdued. “Killer of the Doubt” is a Homeric slice of nightmarish worldbuilding (“A mass of bastard children speak in horrifying tongues”), which wisely breaks down into simple doom jams. The sardonically performed and bizzaro chorus of “Icy Underground” plays in nu-metal fashion as creepy carnival keys colour the background.
“Arjuna’s Hunting Hand” features a gorgeous ambient introduction before succumbing to rock-bar energy with cabaret undertones. There is subtle oriental mystique permeating this dreamy song. Perhaps a track like this is necessary to extend the album’s themes of spiritual awakening through the acceptance of inevitable suffering, a Zen Buddhist school of thought which Moore says finds its way “into the concepts and lyricism here and there”, but he goes on to add that ultimately Veil Lifter is intended to “evoke deeply personal emotion, as it was written from a truly dangerous place.”
There is a sense that one is standing on the edge when listening, and Post Death Soundtrack are most effective when they keep it simple. The Nirvanaesque “Lowdown Animal” is a keen-edged swagger where the dark aesthetic of the lyrics is mirrored in the twisted guitar lines and pulverising drums. Thematically, this song points out the cruel nature of power hierarchies (“beaten by the father, betrayed by the son… I’m a lowdown animal”). Meanwhile, “Tide Turns Red” is a fine headbanging aphrodisiac built on mile-a-minute gusto. While there are dated elements to the group’s loveably nostalgic ways, there’s enough genuine frustration to mirror the zeitgeist, most succinctly summarised in the raucous bolt of “Pin Prick”.
“Hammer Come Down” ends the album with focused riffcraft, militaristic drums, and spent vocals that seem to be holding on to the last shred of sanity one can have after fifty minutes of such a high-octane performance. “Razing the ground of your little town” goes the lyrics in their typically nihilistic fashion.
There’s no redemption to be found on Veil Lifter. Everything is bleak and hopeless, just as it should be. Yet this is an expansive and dreamlike album that channels a variety of heavy genres into a cohesive exploration of its difficult themes. With its trench-mud riffs and propulsive energy, it captures the ferocity and resilience needed to face the horrors of reality.
★★★½