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Vein Cage [reviews]
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished |Veincage Records, 2006|

1. Control, 2. Arise, 3. My Brother Madness, 4. Black Magic M666, 5. Over And Over, 6. Lies And Sincerity, 7. Wires, 8. Shipbreaker, 9. More You Look, 10. Cemetery Sunrise, 11. Painted Faces


Published in 2006 and available only as a digital version album, continued with what was developed on the earlier demo (2004). The result is outstanding - 41 minutes of no respite industrial hard rock filled up with pure adrenaline.

The second track "Arise" is truly remarkable with its processed vocals, explosive drums and guitars, all enriched with well distributed electronic but never intrusive.
"Lies & Sincerity" is another top notch song with the ravens croak that emphasizes the spectral atmosphere.

It’s hard to find any weak songs, or such placed seemingly on purpose to enrich the tracklist only. This album has the potential to become a favorite in every CD collection. A catch-all album that can be appreciated by industrial rock fans as well as the fans of metal and hard-rock bands like Slayer. If you like the album "Anticore" by Acumen Nation, you’ll love this one too. (Marco Gariboldi)


Killing Days... The Lost Years |Radio Valkyrie Records, 2007|

01. I Pray For You Pt. 1, 02. My Brother Madness - Eviceratedmix, 03. I Pray For You Pt.2, 04. Frustrated - Novox, 05. East Coast Psycho - Greedmix, 06. Goodbye - Novox, 07. (Life Is Not A) Sunny Day, 08. Killingdays - Novox, 09. Untitled, 10. Sleep - Shewasmurderedmix, 11. Abyss - Novox, 12. This Frozen Earth - Livedownheremix, 13. Planetcrash - Novox, 14. Mr. Hollow Man, 15. My Brother Madness - Bloodismix


"Killing Days" is not a real album ... or rather it is … "Killing Days" is the 2nd Vein Cage album which was never given to print, and thus contains demos and a rough mix of original songs recorded during that session before being put aside. Now, thanks should go to Mark Miller for making this excellent album available to the audience and never letting it sink into oblivion.

"Killing Days" is the American industrial hard rock manifesto of the last 20 years. Another masterpiece of an artist who unfortunately has published only a few albums despite of his long musical career. This gem is not only directed to Vein Cage collectors but to all kinds of nostalgic fans who will find this production a little jewel in their CD collections.
Inside of the booklet you can find an intimate portrait of Peter’s reflections about the period these songs took shape. (Marco Gariboldi)


Killing Days... The Lost Years |Radio Valkyrie Records, 2007|

01. I Pray For You Pt. 1, 02. My Brother Madness - Eviceratedmix, 03. I Pray For You Pt.2, 04. Frustrated - Novox, 05. East Coast Psycho - Greedmix, 06. Goodbye - Novox, 07. (Life Is Not A) Sunny Day, 08. Killingdays - Novox, 09. Untitled, 10. Sleep - Shewasmurderedmix, 11. Abyss - Novox, 12. This Frozen Earth - Livedownheremix, 13. Planetcrash - Novox, 14. Mr. Hollow Man, 15. My Brother Madness - Bloodismix


Vein Cage keeps making original music. It's a good thing because there are many 'musicians' of low skills around those industrial-related genres that every ambitious, professional and creative musician is welcome to Fabryka.
Vein Cage originality comes from mixing industrial-metal compositions and a few other significant music styles like coldwave or hardcore. Therefore there are short tracks based on stable rhythm, looped vocals and aggressive guitar riffs. It's not easy to describe this music to give you a clear understanding of what you could order. To keep things simple it's all about a wild idea mixed with some influences coming from Ministry, 16volt, Circle of Dust, Godflesh, Bad Brains, Biohazard, Suicidal Tendencies or Sick of It All songs.

This album is a collection of unreleased and not quite finished demos recorded in early 90s so a great discography entry for rare stuff die hard fans.
Thus the opening track I Pray For You it's a short intro to the CD with its original charm. Then My Brother Madness comes with this slow tempo so recognizable to Godflesh listeners. Next we get back to some kind of rap rhythms in I Pray For You Pt. 2 but the following song Frustrated brings characteristic tunes of music labeled as coldwave what means cold electronics with an aggressive content.
East Coast Psycho – Greedmix comes up with gentle bass and aggro guitars but then the atmosphere changes to a monotone with a repetitive refrain. The song is too long for such a simple construction to me.
Goodbye – Novox begins with an intro which could have been prolonged because it turned into a syncopated tempo later and I personally didn't like it that much. Other than that (Life Is Not A) Sunny Day – sounds like a very cool track especially for Ministry fans and their album The Dark Side of a Spoon – (the song reminds me Kaif in the meaning of gloomy, slowly rolling sounds) with additional bite of downtempo and great basslines which you may heard from Paul Barker.

Killingdays - Novox will be greatly appreciated by every fan of coldwave music. It's a masterpiece with its tiny crying guitar which comes up as a foreground to a tempting mixture of samples so the song could be also danceable too if you are very persistent! The only thing what made me bored it was not much interesting beat, I mean the samples used as beats. The tempo and its gradual rise fits to some action movies but also to porn if you need an additional accent ;) It's an instrumental track of which the biggest advantage comes from a contrast between gentle guitar riff and coldwave background with looped samples and beats weaved into.
If you listen closer to Untitled – you may hear some rhythms similar to early Ministry songs (Flashback?). Sleep - Shewasmurderedmix – it's a very good example of how to use hardcore influences with industrial metal music and at the same time to avoid exceeding the limits of aggression. The situation here was moderated with natural, tho a bit distorted bass and wavy guitar riffs.
Abyss - Novox – is kept in an interesting track construction however it could have been developed much more of that song. The synth add-ons sound unnecessary but I like cool guitar riffs and a dark vibe. Though the song sounds too long with nothing between the lines, similarly to East Coast Psycho – Greedmix.

This Frozen Earth - Livedownheremix – comes up with guitars and samples in the foreground. After the first listening I thought it should be inversed, but after all so underlined guitars would dominate the whole song so it would turn into a heavy metal track instead of staying industrial metal. The song doesn't convince me that much due to its too large resonance between electronics and aggressiveness with a lack of a good idea for the song construction, while some samples sound unnecessary as if put on purpose to bung up the gaps.
Planetcrash - Novox it's the heaviest and the most oppressive song on the album. The gloomy dusted part of the wood with raven seemingly the only one living creature at the front CD artwork matches the song atmosphere perfectly. It's a very interesting song with a solid construction, stable dynamics and equal participation of electronics and guitars.
Mr. Hollow Man vibe may sound recognizable to Ministry fans once again thanks to its atmosphere similar to songs released on both Filth Pig and The Dark Side of a Spoon. Logy rhythm, distorted guitars and vocals with some weird samples in the background. I loved heavy guitars but I didn't find those standard beats that much creative.

Finally My Brother Madness – Bloodismix kept in industrial metal vapors, dominated by heavy guitars and electronics used equally. Unfortunately yet again some not quite natural beats came in instead of a real drummer who could have added more dynamics and depth to the song. However it's difficult to fulfill the expectations if you run the band yourself like Peter DiNardi has been doing. He and his long time friend Mark Alan Miller (Out Out) took care about mastering and production of the CD and so the album was mastered in Miller's studio Slaughterhouse.

Vein Cage is known better in the USA than Europe I guess (in Poland not that much at all however you may come across the CDs on Polish auctions sometime). Peter has been working on the new album since 2008 and after moving out to the new place including his own studio and gathering necessary gears seems to have even more ideas for the new songs. The new demos sound cool with an accent laid on his previous achievements of industrial-metal-hardcore styles mixture so that if you listen to those albums closer then the newest one shouldn't be anything shocking.

( Katarzyna NINa Górnisiewicz. Must not be used for promotional or commercial purposes. See a Legal Note for the copyrights below)
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