Superstatic – Glimmering Veil Album Review

November 2021 – Dublin

I am going to write the most challenging review as it will be my first time listening to doom metal. And to make it more challenging I have chosen to review Superstatic’s latest album Glimmering Veil, which combines many other influences and some machinery screams which are not very common in metal music. This interview has been written in collaboration with D Metal Galaxy where we talked with Alex regarding the new album.

Apart from being a challenge, this interview will be written from a different perspective as I’ve done the artwork layout for this album. As a result, I will share some secrets on visualising the layout and give some feedback on the material I have received for the layout. Other topics that will be covered in the music review are: music, lyrics and videos.

Music

Glimmering Veil went in a totally different direction than the previous album. As Alex himself told us, he wanted this album to deepen the horror theme. Due to this reason, there is less black metal, more doom, more keyboards and more weird effects on the guitars. For me this album felt more atmospheric and thus broodier. Also, this album was far more diverse and experimental to my taste.

The one particular music effect that stood out for me were the cyberpunk elements. Especially, Remember Citadel and I Have No Mouth, and I Must Screams use this kind of element. I think it is a great addition to the doom as it innovates the genre, but at same time it creates extra dimensions, which strengthen the core atmosphere of “Glimmering Veil.”

The rest of the album has death/doom elements as well other influences. Every song gives you a different flavour. It’s quite astonishing that each song has no repeatable riffs but instead has something unique to offer. For this reason, ”Glimmering Veil” is an album which will definitely surprise you.

“SUPERSTATIC MUSIC HAS A LOT OF MUSICAL LAYERS TO UNPEEL”

Lyrics

Each song of Glimmering Veil takes inspiration from different sources and is a standalone. Inspirations are drawn from an animation movie, computer games: System Shock and Morrorwind, several different books and a short story called Rose Garden.

Despite being an advocate of concept albums I loved this approach as each song has a different story to tell. This blends in with the diversity of the music. Moreover, every song explores a different theme and has a different creative angle from the writer. For example, the lyrics of “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” are told from the AI point of view in contrast to the source material. I think this kind of topics are great for doom music as well as there is something dark luring in this song.

My favourite lyrics are from the song “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream”. It is the most daring and memorable one as I haven’t seen any metal bands adding cyberpunk elements to the music. 

In short, the lyrics have a lot of layers to unpeel and themes to discover.

“THE LYRICS OF GLIMMERING VEIL HAS A LOT OF HIDDEN MESSAGES”

Artwork

When I was hired to do the layout I was provided with drawings and the hand written text. Jane Dickson was responsible for the drawings and the text was handwritten by Alex Superstatic himself. This was quite an interesting approach and a challenge as I had to visualise Alex’s vision and make sure all components are seamlessly fitting each other.

The drawings were very helpful for me to experience the story and the atmosphere. Moreover, they are captivating and have a lot of details. As a result, the booklet is a great add on as these drawings give you a taste of the story and makes the songs more memorable.

Also, the handwritten text by Alex was a great help as it contributed towards the atmosphere.

I received the task from Alex to create parchment paper. Each page was going to have a small variation to the previous page. Listening to the music I’ve decided to go for a darker parchment color and build the ”darkness up”. For me personally, Glimmering Veil is a very atmospheric album. The more you go towards the end the tighter album holds you in its grip and the atmosphere starts weighing down. Also, when I studied the last drawings I got an unsettling feeling, especially “I am the Doorway” one.

In order to create parchment I used a yellowish base which was differentiated with darker paint marks. To give it an ancient look I made the stains from scratches on certain items such as a wooden desk, clock and pans. To build up the darkness I started with no scratches and resized them to a smaller format. The bottom of the booklet becomes darker towards the end and is made out of burnt paper.

To make sure the handwriting and the drawings were blending in nicely with the paper I had to use Multiply and Color Burn and adjust by eye so that it looked like the drawings were made from the ancient paper.

Overall, I think Alex had a great idea to make a booklet look like it was ancient and could have been found in a cave, and it fits very nicely with the music and lyrics. Every component of the booklet strengthens and visualises the core elements of Glimmering Veil.

“SUPERSTATIC ARTWORK HAS BEEN CREATED BY MULTIPLE DESIGNERS YET IT IS BEST AND COHERENT ARTWORK I HAVE SEEN IN MY LIFE”

Video

“Glimmering Veil” is accompanied by the video called: ”I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” which is also the first song of the album. The very reason behind this decision by Superstatic is that it’s an introduction of what the album has to offer, even though the song was nearly cut in half for the video. 

I think it is a great strategy as this song is musically diverse and as a result you’ll get a taste of the different influences you will hear in the album. Next to this, the underlying theme of the song is a great one to visualise. Why did I feel captivated by this song? It has an unsettling undertone which sets the tone for the rest of the album. The video is about the doom of mankind thanks to artificial intelligence. I felt kind of threatened by the AI presence and towards the end my unsettled feeling only grew as the AI became more and more unfriendly and threatening. This is the first time a music video moved me like this.

Furthermore, the resources used to make this video are quite astonishing. There is so much detail, different colorisations and shots to represent and tell the story, it just left my jaw dropped.

“I HAVE NO MOUTH AND I MUST SCREAM IS A MUST WATCH , ESPECIALLY FOR THE VISUALS”

Summary

Summarising what I have said above on Glimmering Veil, it is an album I haven’t seen anything like this before. It’s rich in influences, full of invitation and imagination. Every component of the album contributes to the atmosphere and theme. Also, every song has something unique to offer from a lyrics and music point of view. I would definitely recommend this album to those who are seeking for a sound they haven’t heard yet. Glimmering Veil album is also perfect for those who are into horror and searching for music that will unsettle them.

“SUPERSTATIC GOES BEYOND ANY GENRES AND IMAGINATION”
MAIr