Album Review: Typhonian – “The Gate of the Veiled Beyond” (Death Metal)

Written by Kep

I’ve been trying to decide if I want to write about this Typhonian album for weeks. It wasn’t a matter of whether or not I had something to say, because I always have something to say. It’s that I tend to only review albums I really love, and as a result my words on them tend to be enthusiastic; for The Gate of the Veiled Beyond, though, despite enjoying the record, I’ve felt a bit tepid. Now before you check out, the album isn’t bad at all—it’s good! It’s just not quite everything I hoped it would be. And I’ve got words, goddamnit, so I’m gonna write ‘em. 

My experience listening to the 50 minutes of The Gate of the Veiled Beyond has been one of enjoyment with a touch of curious ennui; though to be fair, a good deal more of the former than the latter. It’s big, grand, thoughtful death metal, though not particularly progressive even as its ethos leans into the celestial and philosophical. It’s expansive, relatively simple from a chordal and riff design perspective, spread out to horizon-width and taking on a sky-gazing sort of musing tone that relates closely to its cosmic themes. It’s a carefully crafted approach, to be sure; the feeling of standing beneath a mysterious night sky is present from the album’s first moments, in the eerie beauty of intro track “Celestial Salvation” (though I would rather they have rolled its 44 seconds into the runtime of the next song). Typhonian are interested in looking beyond our place here on earth—which is why I wish parts of the album did more than just feel cosmic and grand. 

This is the band’s second full-length record, following the 2018 debut Beneath the Streams of Life and the impressive EP The Cosmic Pendulum of Time in 2021, which was my introduction to them. Typhonian has always been one of those bands that’s a little longwinded—that EP is longer than some bands’ LPs—but that’s not necessarily a problem here in and of itself. They deliver plenty of satisfying riffs to fill the time, bludgeoning straight ahead power and razor-edged melodic material their two main calling cards, playing with the tenets of OSDM, modern Swedish death metal, and European melodic death while staying in a sort of gray area that commits full time to none of the above. “Primal Deceptive Light” is a great example of this, with its grandiose melodeath opening of cascading triplets and a scything main riff that trades passages with driving old school thrashy syncopations, and a tremendously spacious chorus. There’s plenty to love about the axework of guitarists Prometheus and Typhon, no question; if you like a good solid riff, smartly written and subtly (or not-so-subtly) melodic, then this is your jackpot, because “Cosmic Throne” kicks off with a beaut and every track delivers more. I find the lead riff in “Towards the Chamber of the Omnipresent Mind” particularly satisfying, especially with the way it slides smoothly into vicious long tremolo as the song moves towards its chorus—there are moments that are tinged black in several places, especially this track. 

So with rock solid guitars—and some truly remarkable solos that get creative with harmony (“Cosmic Throne”) and feel nomadic, exploratory even, while usually remaining relatively brief (“The Gatekeeper” has one of the coolest examples)—plus workmanlike performances from drummer Thanatos, bassist Charbydis, and the worthy presence of M.W. Styrum’s classic mid-range roar, what is that leaves me feeling less than filled by The Gate of the Veiled Beyond? I believe it’s a combination of things including the production, which is almost detrimentally clean and lacks the weight needed to really knock the wind out of you like it should. If you heard this year’s Nyktophobia release, you know how massive and breathtaking expansive melodic death metal can sound; I want that here on The Gate. Pair that with songwriting that rarely breaks traditional structures and too often uses the same blueprint and you’ll find that sometimes Typhonian feels like they’re treading water rather than voyaging deeper into the great unknown. 

It’s only on final track “Cath’un – The Gate of the Veiled Beyond” that things push into more progressive and daring spaces, and that’s why the 19-minute epic is easily the most interesting and engrossing listen on the record. Its multi-segment runtime includes theatrical spoken word like that of a storyteller, an extended section of solos that spray kaleidoscopic bursts of dazzling color in all directions, soaring harmonized operatic clean vocals that eventually trade in memorable fashion with Styrum’s throaty screams, futuristic staccato keyboards, and a final climax that combines some of the albums best elements into one colossal whole. “Cath’un” is the kind of track that makes you wonder what could have been had the band pushed further in the album’s preceding 30 minutes; it’s fascinating and imperfect, but it’s ambitious and leaves you thinking. Or perhaps the album would be more effective if it were ~10 minutes and two tracks shorter, with the sizable finale taking up a greater percentage of its runtime. 

THE BOTTOM LINE

Though I’m not blown away by The Gate of the Veiled Beyond, I’m nonetheless impressed by the breadth of what Typhonian has achieved here. This is a well-crafted album of esoteric space-gazing death metal, grand and grim; at most moments good, and at its apex quite stunning.