The debut demo from Veil of thorns, recorded in 1991 on primitive equipment in a basement rehearsal complex in Boston. Instrumental tracks were recorded all at once on two tracks using two ribbon mikes and a direct line for Ruddy Bitch, leaving the other two for vocals and a couple additional guitars.
The noise of other bands can be heard at quiet moments.
Lineup:
P. Emerson Williams - Guitar, Vocals
Jarrett Laitinen - Guitar
Catherine Chenoweth - Bass
Ruddy Bitch - Drums
Tracks:
Void
Utopia
Tear the Cities Down
Sanctify (Drowning)
No Claim
Dreamshadow (Falling)
Re-Creating Space-Time
Crimson Smile
Nod
Few people heard this at the time. Within days of the conclusion of the recording sessions, Jarrett was gone and Cathy was on her way to New York with the two previous masters, all Veil of Thorns related artwork and a few rough demos in her bags. Christopher (Dogface) McClain was to step in and Veil of Thorns would start showing a new focus.
Already the vocals were less operatic, and there is even a hint of pop songwriting, something that was not to be revisited until much later on Birthed.
Lineup:
P. Emerson Williams - Guitar, Vocals
Jarrett Laitinen - Guitar
Catherine Chenoweth - Bass
Ruddy Bitch - Drums
Veil of Thorns first radio appearance one dark Saturday night on Tufts college free-form radio. The second guitarist was Jarrett Laitinen, who I recently learned died of a heroin overdose in 2004. In his final year he lost his father and stepmother in fucked up circumstances. I wish I had recordings that could give a good example of what an otherworldly amazing guitarist Jarrett was. He was the second guitarist on the first two Veil of Thorns demos from 1991 and 1992 respectively.
This is the original lineup:
P. Emerson Williams - Vocals, guitar
Jarrett Laitinen - Guitar
Catherine Chenoweth - Bass
Ruddy Bitch - Drums
Sourced from a reference tape recorded at the station. Some glitches and noise were minimized to the extent possible.
Veil of Thorns radio appearance a stormy night, Halloween, 1992 on Tufts college free-form radio. This was the second time the band played live on Bazooka Joe’s WMFO radio show. On second guitar the band borrowed Dave, the guitarist from Chuck.
This is the lineup:
P. Emerson Williams - Vocals,
guitar Dave (From the Boston funk rock band Chuck) - Guitar
Catherine Chenoweth - Bass
Ruddy Bitch - Drums
Sourced from a reference tape recorded at the station. Some glitches and noise were minimized to the extent possible
Tracks:
Obsession
Possession
Utopia
Void
The End of the Beginning
Sanctify (Drowning)
Souls In Flight
Raw recordings from rehearsal and pre production demos for the debut Veil of Thorns album in 1995. These recordings are different from the ones that made their way to the Cafe Flesh album, and some have not been heard, except played live at concerts.
These tracks were recorded live in a single take in most cases, using two mikes, placed at either end of a 30’x30’ rehearsal room in Boston. The analog recording was extremely hot, so little compression or noise reduction was done.
Tracks:
Thelema
Nothing Is Real
Silence (A Fable)
Stillness
Legemet og Stemmen
Bring the End
Mine
Dead God
Sinking
Demons Play
Daath
Rain
A collection of tracks from the second lineup. Some of these were reworked versions of tracks from “Legemet og Stemmen” but most were new. The original intention was to use this as a demo for Misanthropy Records who had offered the band a deal, but Misanthropy dissolved just after they received the demo.
Having played this material extensively in clubs, the performances were the most solid to date. New songs like “Demons Play”, She and Mine show Veil of Thorns as a versatile, powerful but graceful machine.
Lineup:
P. Emerson Williams - Guitar, Vocals, bass, keyboards
Chris McClain - bass, keyboards, programming
Ruddy Bitch - Drums
1994 Veil of Thorns (mostly) accoustic performance on the Bats In The Belfry show on WMBR in Cambridge, MA.
This is the lineup:
P. Emerson Williams - Vocals, Guitar, Cello
Christopher McClain - Bass, Guitar
Ruddy Bitch - Drums
Sourced from a reference tape recorded at the station. Some glitches and noise were minimized to the extent possible.
Within the tracks on "Birthed", a CD by Veil Of Thorns, you can hear parallels to industrial bands such as Pig, Razed in Black and Nine Inch Nails and, more often than not, you can hear the pure creativity of P. Emerson Williams. Anything created by this man, the brain behind Choronzon (black metal tinged with experimental, ambient and industrial edges) , you would expect to be eclectic and creative. It's his trademark. Herein you'll encounter thick, pummeling, distorted spears of electro/guitar industrial, D&B, goth, dirgey slow industrial moodiness, etc., etc., etc., etc., in fact, etcetera ad infinitum. What's persistent in Williams' smooth, creative and original fusion of various elements is the sustained tone and mood, like that of a soul resigned to nihilistic fate. None of Emerson's creations are quite like anything else, even when you're hearing touches of something else in there. His fierce originality score another point for the underground.
Review by: Kristofer Upjohn, www.chaindlk.com
Veil of Thorns:
Cognitive Dissonance
Down-and-dirty, dark retro-futuristic music
Veil of Thorns cover Every Veil of Thorns song so far contain lyrics in the form of dreamlike fragments making one continuous tale. Cognitive Dissonance brings some of the underlying structure into focus. While they wove their tale they listened to the stories of others. In the spirit of our times they collected many apocalyptic tales. Ragnarok, Armageddon, the end of one life and the beginning of another forms one side of this archetypal narrative. Tales of the death of the ego, of the body, the breaking down of a belief offer a more insightful view.
Coming off collaborations with Gaia-conscious Industrial cabal subQtaneous and Norwegian post Blackmetal band Manes, Williams took the experience of working with such gifted and unique artists and has re-emerged with a stronger and darker vision. Lyrically encompassing two universes and two realities, this tight and spare album ends up being more expansive an experience than anything Veil of Thorns has released before.
Cognitive Dissonance marked a return to the classic style of classic Veil of Thorns. People found they could dance to it, but it required having been trained by Martha Graham or Twyla Tharp. Online and college radio picked up some tracks, a couple put the entire album into rotation. As P. Emerson Williams has been putting the finishing touches on the kkoagulaa debut, "Aurum Nostrum Non Est Aurum Vulgi" he is well into the writing process for the next Veil of Thorns release.
"...pushes the envelope, shakes up the status quo, and demands attention." -Gothic Beauty
"This is their most stylish work, but some of the thorns have an extra edge." -Mick Mercer
"This is where Rozz Williams and Marilyn Manson merge in an Event Horizon singularity." -Corazine
"...they brew up a dust storm of tight-but-loose guitar riffs and driving, nervy, drums...half way between a lament and a threat." -Uncle Nemesis
Songs:
Peripatetic
A Weirdness Less Expressed
The Enigmatic Rarely Atone
Fallacy Decides Initiative
Delusions of Excitement
Surgically Dream-Like
Languishing in the Rusting Valley
Corrode and Engulf
Night Access Hallucination
Anomalous Breaks
Cognitive Dissonance
The debut demo from Veil of thorns, recorded in 1991 on primitive equipment in a basement rehearsal complex in Boston. Instrumental tracks were recorded all at once on two tracks using two ribbon mikes and a direct line for Ruddy Bitch, leaving the other two for vocals and a couple additional guitars.
Few people heard this at the time. Within days of the conclusion of the recording sessions, Jarrett was gone and Cathy was on her way to New York with the two previous masters, all Veil of Thorns related artwork and a few rough demos in her bags. Christopher (Dogface) McClain was to step in and Veil of Thorns would start showing a new focus.
Veil of Thorns first radio appearance one dark Saturday night on Tufts college free-form radio. The second guitarist was Jarrett Laitinen, who I recently learned died of a heroin overdose in 2004. In his final year he lost his father and stepmother in fucked up circumstances. I wish I had recordings that could give a good example of what an otherworldly amazing guitarist Jarrett was. He was the second guitarist on the first two Veil of Thorns demos from 1991 and 1992 respectively.
Veil of Thorns radio appearance a stormy night, Halloween, 1992 on Tufts college free-form radio. This was the second time the band played live on Bazooka Joe’s WMFO radio show. On second guitar the band borrowed Dave, the guitarist from Chuck.
Raw recordings from rehearsal and pre production demos for the debut Veil of Thorns album in 1995. These recordings are different from the ones that made their way to the Cafe Flesh album, and some have not been heard, except played live at concerts.
A collection of tracks from the second lineup. Some of these were reworked versions of tracks from “Legemet og Stemmen” but most were new. The original intention was to use this as a demo for Misanthropy Records who had offered the band a deal, but Misanthropy dissolved just after they received the demo.
1994 Veil of Thorns (mostly) accoustic performance on the Bats In The Belfry show on WMBR in Cambridge, MA.
Within the tracks on "Birthed", a CD by Veil Of Thorns, you can hear parallels to industrial bands such as Pig, Razed in Black and Nine Inch Nails and, more often than not, you can hear the pure creativity of P. Emerson Williams. Anything created by this man, the brain behind Choronzon (black metal tinged with experimental, ambient and industrial edges) , you would expect to be eclectic and creative. It's his trademark. Herein you'll encounter thick, pummeling, distorted spears of electro/guitar industrial, D&B, goth, dirgey slow industrial moodiness, etc., etc., etc., etc., in fact, etcetera ad infinitum. What's persistent in Williams' smooth, creative and original fusion of various elements is the sustained tone and mood, like that of a soul resigned to nihilistic fate. None of Emerson's creations are quite like anything else, even when you're hearing touches of something else in there. His fierce originality score another point for the underground.
Veil of Thorns: