Dissocia – To Lift the Veil (Review)

Dissocia are a Spanish progressive metal band and this is their debut album.

Brought to us by current/ex-members of Aposento, Bizarre, Cancer, Eternal Storm, and Wormed, Dissocia play modern progressive metal, with elements of death metal incorporated into its cinematic whole. Across 41 minutes, To Lift the Veil makes its intentions known in no uncertain terms, and has an impact.

The promo blurb lists influences as Cynic, Gojira, The Contortionist, Rivers of Nihil, Porcupine Tree, Der Weg einer Freiheit, Leprous, Whitechapel, Venetian Snares, Igorrr, John Williams, and Hans Zimmer. This should act as a decent starting point for approaching the material on To Lift the Veil. The promo blurb also states that Disoccia try to blend extreme metal with synthwave, which should further inform about To Lift the Veil‘s sound.

The music is intricate and technical, but not cold or distant. It’s warm and luxurious, swaddled in synths, augmented by graceful atmospheric touches, and occasionally enriched with violin and emotive clean singing. This all exists alongside heavy riffs and harsh vocals, allowing these expansive soundscapes to wrap around a harder core of metallic weight. The end result is an album of contemporary progressive metal that has both a mood-rich presence and an abundance of riffs and aggression.

Despite the above description, this is a metal album first and foremost. The atmospheric components are subservient to the finely tuned distortion and the characterful roars. This is especially true when the death metal influences make an appearance; here the hostility moves up a level and deep growls are deployed.

To Lift the Veil is an enjoyable album that takes a few spins to fully get to grip with. Although it has obvious assets, its hooks take time to properly display their potency. Dissocia are clearly talented, and this is a strong, confident first record.

Highly recommended.