Last month, metal band Veil of Maya grabbed a new singer and fictional female inspiration for their recent album, Matriarch.
Arguably among top ten best metal albums of 2015, no one member in Veil of Maya’s roster is overshadowed in this new direction. This time around, the entire band’s talent is showcased more evenly than in previous albums. Graduating from six string baritones to sevenS and upping the ante with recently acquired vocalist Lukas Magyar, Veil of Maya’s Matriarch delivers a little little less flash while still holding on to the thrashy-ness that fans have grown to love.
Though Magyar’s high screams, low growls, and clear vibrato are brought to the table on a glorious china plate encased in a catchy melody sandwich, the introduction of the first clean vocals since the band’s inception isn’t the most notable change from previous vocalist Brandon Butler, who left the band during Matriarch’s inception due to “creative differences.”
While Veil of Maya has always included little easter eggs in their track titles, such as the Game of Thrones headnod “Winter Is Coming Soon” from their 2012 album Eclipse, Martiarch goes further by being their first album to follow a female inspired theme. Guitarist Marc Okubo fit the album’s concept around strong female characters from different fictional genres.
“All the tracks are named after powerful female characters that I found interesting,” he explains. “I always make code names for whatever songs I’m writing, and this time they all stuck to a theme.”
Fans will recognize some of their favorite characters as title tracks scattered throughout the album, from Final Fantasy VII‘s “Aeris,” to the mother of dragons, “Daenerys” from Game of Thrones, and even a few lesser known fandoms, such as “Lucy”and her split personality “Nyu” from Elfen Lied. As a huge fan of Brian K. Vaughan, Okubo’s “Three-Fifty” pays homage to Y: The Last Man‘s Agent 355, and he is currently reading the immensely popular Saga. Cue me on the edge of my seat waiting to hear Okubo riff some justice to the character Alana.
Although Okubo wrote the album to fit into his theme, new vocalist Lukas Magyar penned the lyrics separately and has only within recent months acquired the Internet to catch up on shows like Attack on Titan, with Matriarch‘s single named after the female protagonist, “Mikasa.” Watch the official video from Sumerian Records below, and be prepared for the tasty chorus to get stuck in your head for weeks. Sorry not sorry.
Matriarch also features less of the band’s old signatures, choosing instead to limit the vocals and blast beats to more appropriate timing. When used more sparingly, this enables the songwriting to effectively place pieces to create a better dynamic, rather than barrage the ears with consistent noodling. Though this is outside of the box for Veil of Maya, the execution is effortless as usual and there’s no doubt the album is a sleeper. There’s a song for every fandom, and obviously “Daenerys” is the best, because I’m 100% biased.
Veil of Maya’s Matriarch can be purchased here and tickets for the Summer Slaughter tour are on sale now at TicketFly. If you attend the Dallas date, don’t be surprised by the small, dark-haired gal bopping around. Just wave.
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Warner Brothers announced a slew of films yesterday morning, essentially challenging Marvel with their upcoming movies. So what’s all on the table? Aside from the previously slated Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them (now to be a trilogy), here’s what we can expect through 2020 from WB.
2016
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
We’ve been privy to several released photos and plot lines from Zack Snyder’s gritty, filtered upcoming movie featuring a grizzly, buff, Batfleck and the chiseled jaw of Henry Cavill for some months now, yet I’m not alone in feeling blah toward the upcoming flick, even with the addition of Gal Gadot (whom I adore) as Diana of Themyscira. Inspired by Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight, we can probably expect something a bit darker than what we’re used to!
Comic Recommendation: Frank Miller’s Dark Knight books, or maybe Kingdom Come for a slighter older take on the Trinity
Suicide Squad
Again, gritty seems to to be the word of the year over at the studio, so who makes up the roster of this flick of bad guys directed by David Ayer? Deadshot seems to be the obvious choice, but my money is on Harley Quinn making her first ever movie appearance, as well as Black Manta, and the Wall herself, Amanda Waller. I’m all up for bad guys tearing shit up, but as long as there’s some FUN to it!
Comic Recommendation: Keith Giffen’s or Adam Glass’s Suicide Squad
2017
Wonder Woman
FINALLY. It’s been an unforgivable amount of years, but thank the old gods and the new, that our warrior is finally getting her own movie. Sure, it’s two years away, but it’s HAPPENING. Gal Gadot will again be donning the tiara as she battles her way through who knows what, but with the rumors swirling around that Diana’s origins will be in line with her New52 ones, we can except some amazing battles. Hopefully Brian Azzarello or Gail Simone will be on hand to assist with the script, so we can get the Wonder Woman we deserve. PLEASE DO NOT FUCK THIS UP, WARNER BROTHERS.
Comic Recommendation: Brian Azzarello’s Wonder Woman
C’mon, guys. A whole movie of this? Solid gold.
Justice League
There’s not much to be said about this ensemble film. Will it rival the Avengers? Who knows. Will Martian Manhunter make his appearance? I fucking hope so. Will it be along the lines of the Justice League: War animated film, so our team spends the film sputtering insults at each other? Pass.
Comic Recommendation: Brad Meltzer’s Justice League of America
2018
The Flash
It’s not news to some that this cinematic Flash would be different from CW’s Flash, but for some it was quite the nasty shock that Ezra Miller (of Perks of Being a Wallflower fame) will be donning those red tights. No word yet on what sort of story we might see, but MAYBE we can get a different Flash instead of Barry Allen, since he’s basically covered in the television show. Mayhaps a twist on The Flash: Rebirth!
Comic Recommendation: Geoff John’s The Flash: Rebirth
Aquaman
I had tons to say about Aquaman, but when I found the photo above my wits left me. We know Jason Momoa will be outfitted in the green and gold of DC’s “lamest” superhero, and I personally wish to see the New52’s storyline on the big screen. It handles all the misconceptions about Aquaman, while rendering him a certified badass. This is definitely in my top two “must see” flicks on this list so far, simply because it was getting lonely being the only Aquaman fan!
Comic Recommendation: Geoff John’s Aquaman
2019
Shazam
We got confirmation that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson would be wearing that shiny, white cape of Billy Batson’s alter-ego, but this is the movie I’m least excited to see. It has potential for laughs, as Shazam gets the job done with a child-like wonder, but my main concern is how strong the story will be. There’s so many questions too, such as will the rest of the Marvel family appear? Will he just be called Shazam, or will we know him by Captain Marvel (not to be confused by Marvel’s Captain Marvel), if the copyright is still in place? Will Black Adam be the big bad?
Comic Recommendation: Jeff Smith’s Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil
Justice League 2
Again, there’s not much to go one, except rumors, but if rumors are all I have, so be it. Speculation places Darkseid as the blue-faced villain of the first Justice League movie (joining other blue faced nemeses like Apocalypse, from Fox’s X-Men, and Thanos, from Marvel’s cinematic universe), so I will use my tiny bit of internet to plead for Starro or Amazo or Vandal Savage! There’s so much out there, just waiting to see a tiny slice of the general population. So much. It’d be amazing as a comic fan to see some of it played out in all its glory.
Comic Recommendation: Mark Waid’s JLA: Tower of Babel
2020
Cyborg
Of all the people in the DC Universe, I was most surprised by this announcement. Victor Stone isn’t a character that you normally see solo (normally he’s on the Teen Titans roster), but a teenager with a genius level intellect will be a nice addition to all the burly men (and one woman) we will so far be seeing! Ray Fisher doesn’t have much under his belt aside from a handful of Broadway shows, but he’s set to make his first appearance in the Batman v. Superman movie, giving us a peek at what we can expect in 2020.
Comic Recommendation: Geoff John’s Teen Titans or Judd Winnick’s Titans
Green Lantern
As much as I would love this Green Lantern movie to feature John Stewart (cause let’s all admit, 90% of the Ryan Reynolds GL was trash), I think that would be hopeful to the point of foolishness, given DC’s track record of being wholly ignorant of what we, the fans, want. TWO blockbuster filmed led by black men in the SAME YEAR, would be absolutely mind blowing, and tons of people are already fans of John Stewart, having grown up on the animated Justice League series. Let’s make this happen, DC. Representation matters!
Comic Recommendation: Geoff John’s Green Lantern: Rebirth or John Starlin’s Cosmic Odyssey
Overall, this is exciting, and I’m very much cautiously optimistic of what the future holds. There’s still stand alone Batman, and Superman films that haven’t been announced yet, so with these PLUS all that Marvel is bringing to the screen…well, let’s just say my wallet is going to be a lot lighter, assuming I like what I see from trailers, and so forth. My only thing is…I hope both studios think of the younger people, and involve some of the teenager teams, like Teen Titans, and the Runaways or Young Avengers.
What movie are you most excited for?
Editor’s Note: Leia will be glad to help you find the comics referenced above, just tweet at her (@ladyvader99)!
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