The Veil Of Secrecy cover art unveiled.

Finally, after many hours of stress and extreme scrutiny, I finally finished the artwork for our side of the upcoming Uzala/Mala Suerte split 7″ which will soon be released by Arizona based King Of The Monsters Records. Our side will feature an older song which we used to play live quite a bit called “The Veil Of Secrecy”. The track was recorded quite some time ago around February and March of 2010 and we planned to release it back then but every band we contacted about doing it with ended up passing for one reason or another. As far as I’m concerned, everything worked out for the best, because after all but forgetting about the recording and resigning it to the vaults, Uzala agreed to team up with us for this release. And I couldn’t be any more pleased with the results, especially considering the haunting quality and monstrous power of their track, “Burned”.

Once plans were made to release “The Veil Of Secrecy” as part of a split 7″  I drew up a pencil sketch for a wraparound cover of two opposing groups of praying monks perpetually leering at each other from their respective sides of the record sleeve. Once Uzala came on board I figured that they’d probably end up using their own design, especially considering the tremendous amount of in-house talent they already possessed in vocalist/guitarist, Darcy Nutt. After receiving an e-mail from Darcy with an attached rough pencil sketch of the artwork for their side, I knew I had my work cut out for me. Even at this early stage, her rendering of goat-footed Pan, god of the wild, playing his flute while surrounded by curling clouds of smoke was truly amazing and inspired. I still haven’t seen the completed drawing but I am sure my haphazard scribblings will pale in comparison to the visual elegance of her finished piece.

After being unable to properly mentally conceptualize a suitable counterpoint or companion piece to Darcy’s Pan, I somewhat reluctantly abandoned the idea of creating an image that would somehow tie in symbolically and/or symmetrically with hers. Instead, I opted to focus on trying to convey the lyrical content of our song in a manner that is fantastical and somewhat esoteric while remaining visually arresting. My initial idea was to have a central figure which appeared to be  your average run-of-the -mill politician/banker/evil/elite/scumbag type holding up either a mask with some sort of blank stare or false smile, or of the type worn at a masquerade ball, in a vain yet not altogether sincere attempt at concealing his true visage, which is ultimately betrayed by the peculiar horns protruding from atop his head. This central figure would be standing in front of a closed curtain or veil which on the insert image or reverse sleeve would be open revealing the robotic masses herded like cattle marching on a road to ruin toward their inevitable death and destruction, brought on by their “benevolent” leader/controller/master who has now removed the mask revealing his true goatish and infernal identity. After creating a thumb sketch of this initial idea and actually trying to draw a much larger version of it, I realized that the proposed image for the inner sleeve would ultimately prove to be much more visually compelling than what was planned for the front so I dropped that concept and tried to think of an idea that would incorporate some of those same themes, but in one image rather than two. In the final drawing I changed the evil corporate master/ruler  into his figuratively true identity of the grim reaper, and the road to ruin and destruction is now a stairway to the mountains of madness. Rather than trying to explain the imagery here, I’ll allow the lyrics to speak for themselves:

The Veil Of Secrecy

The road to utopia is paved                                                                                                                                   With the bones and blood of the common man

On the broken backs of the enslaved

Destiny is shaped by a hidden hand

That controls the fate of all nations

Novus Ordo Seclorum

 

Pull back the veil of secrecy

From this global conspiracy

Expose this occult mystery

On which has formed our history

 

Through manipulation and control

Of the largest corporate entities

The world’s banks and our economies

Entertainment and technology

They regulate our base necessities

Yet somehow we’re still too blind to see

 

Pull back the veil of secrecy

Of this global conspiracy

Subvert this evil treachery

To preserve all life and liberty

 

Rise against those who wish to rule you

Stand and fight those that would subdue you

Open your eyes to what transpires

Crush their system, purge it with fire

 

Down with the Rockefellers

Death to the Bilderbergers

Destroy the Rothschild’s rule

And end the Federal Reserve

 

Too much Doom for one room.

Thursday, June 7th fast approaches  and I look forward to this date with much anticipation, for we will be sharing the stage with one of my current favorite up-and-coming doom ensembles, Uzala. Much like fellow acts Blood Ceremony and Jex Thoth,  this Boise, ID. gloom troupe traffics in the same sort of Sabbathian riff-magick, albeit with a much more somber and crusty vibe. Where, with the aforementioned groups, their more throwback sounds conjure up images of pagan hippies dancing sky-clad under an autumn moon as the smell of incense fills the night air, Uzala’s brand of musical misanthropy brings to mind things less fanciful and more tangibly corrupted and profane. While the hippies dance the night away in a secluded glen, not far away in the midst of  cold giant monoliths of concrete and steel, the city dwellers go about their daily rituals of misery, dejection, despair, and death. Filth and misfortune reign supreme. One thing that really sets Uzala apart from those two slightly more established acts is the dichotomy between vocalist/guitarist Darcy Nutt’s melodically morose, siren of despair doom wailings and the old-school death metal, straight from the grave and fresh from the tomb gravel gurglings  of vocalist/guitarist Chad Remains. Just when you think you have them figured out, they’ll change gears on you and send you reeling down another crooked path or spiralling out of control and headlong into more psychotic soundscapes of psychedelic sludge. Uzala will be on tour starting today (May 24th) and will be out on the road until June 13th. Come out and help make their Austin stop a memorable one.

Also on this bill is local combo, Communion, which features within their ranks, ex-The Roller drummer, Jeremy Jenkins. I caught them live last weekend and they delivered a short set of very ambient, yet minimalist drone/psych. I look forward to seeing further shows as their sound continues to progress and evolve.

Mala Suerte is teaming up with Uzala for an upcoming split 7″ which is set to be released on King Of The Monsters Records really soon. The Mala Suerte track is a song we recorded quite some time ago with our previous drummer, John Petri, entitled “The Veil Of Secrecy“. Those of you that saw us live before Dave rejoined the band may remember the song as we did perform it a few times. The Uzala track is for a song called “Burned” which I just recently heard the mastered version of, and it sounds absolutely crushing! As a matter of fact, I should be finishing up the artwork for our side of this split rather than sitting in front of this computer so I am out of here. I’ll post more information regarding this release really soon.