Crimson Veil – Hex (Review)

Crimson Veil are a progressive metal band from the UK and this is their debut album.

Across 56 minutes Hex offers up a hybrid style that’s interesting and absorbing.  Crimson Veil have made a very favourable impression with their first album, one that I urge you to take the time to explore.

Think progressive metal, laced with ethereal soundscapes, sinister otherworldly atmosphere, and avant-garde expressions. The music is electronically enhanced, enriched with violin, cello, and harp, yet still has a heart of metallic fire that burns brightly.

Crimson Veil’s music is textured and layered. It’s quirky and idiosyncratic, while adhering to potent songwriting techniques that make the most of the band’s vast array of talents and skills. Hex delivers a rich, multifaceted, and varied experience. The songs are well-crafted, and understand how to use atmosphere, feeling, dynamics, and structure to build songs that leave a mark. Steeped in striking imagery, awash with emotive depth, and adorned with sharpened hooks, Hex is not a record you forget about quickly. And nor should you, as the more times you listen to it the more secrets you unlock and treasures you discover.

The vocals move from clean singing that is ripe with affecting emotive qualities, (the primary style), to dark roars that are harsh and malevolent. The singer’s voice is versatile and she has good range and depth, equally adept at graceful fragility as gruff fiery anger.

Hex is a remarkably strong album. It’s a sophisticated and polished example of contemporary progressive metal that knows the importance of a firm feeling-based foundation.

Essential listening.