Review by Paul Monkhouse for MPM
Having released nine albums in nineteen years, Canadian outfit The Veer Union are nothing but reliable in their output, their work rate of new material every couple of years admirable especially when compared to the glacial speed some of their contemporaries.
2025 sees the band on fine form, lean, mean and ready to ruck, ‘Welcome to Dystopia’ containing eight taught tracks that span a fat free half hour in total.
Leaning heavily into arena filling modern rock, there’s certainly dirt under their fingernails too that gives the sound an authenticity a million miles away from the plethora of cookie cutter bands that plague the enormo-venues, despite the glossy production.
The huge hooks of ‘No Excuse’ set their stall out from the start, its skittering rhythms and urgent vocals large enough to fill any arena, the following ‘Is This How It Ends?’ featuring a blistering breakdown and soaring chorus.
Throughout the release, the constant tension between their diametrically opposed facets is key to the sound and thankfully this is used with some restraint, light and shade a natural thig never forced.
The clearest example of this technique is during ‘Dig Their Own Graves’ as it moves from ease from the thunderous to the eye of the storm, Crispin Earl’s vocals and the guitar of Ryan Ramsdell flicking from the visceral to the soothing.
Elements rumble and roar, the eviscerating ‘Shades of Gray’ show the band at their most muscular and the sheer heaviness of ‘Empirical’ crushes everything in its path.
Full of modern metal tropes, the band aren’t afraid to stretch out a little and bringing guests Silent Theory along for a thundering ‘Welcome to Dystopia’ brings extra colours to the mix.
Powered by Ricardo Viana’s drums, each number drives with a bracing commitment and should see the band not just enlarge their circle of fans but give them a lift onto the next rung of the ladder. A thrilling next step on their evolution, The Veer Union are certainly going places.
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