35 Tapes: Veil on Life

I had never heard of the Norwegian “prog collective� 35 Tapes before receiving this album to review, but their name made me positively disposed to them. It refers to the number of “keys� on a classic M400 Mellotron. Surely, the album had to be at least a little promising! And delivered, it did.

The five-piece says that "Veil on Life balances the band’s tasteful restraint with boosted emotional confidence, delivered with discipline rather than excess,� and that it remains “cinematic prog� but introduces “new forceful soundscapes.�

I would argue that is an accurate description. I could not listen to the album without thinking repeatedly about Pink Floyd’s The Division Bell, largely because the vocals so closely resemble David Gilmour’s in middle age: fairly deep but occasionally soaring to higher registers. Also, there are, indeed, the “soundscapes� we were promised, many resembling latter-day Floyd but some resembling Red-era King Crimson, especially on the second track, “Waters.� And, finally, while there are no epics on the album, the tunes are fairly lengthy by contemporary standards, most between six and eight minutes. None of them reaches the heights of, say, “Take It Back� or “High Hopes,� but I enjoyed all six, with a total run time that seemed just about right.

I don’t mean to imply that Veil on Life is a complete lift of the post-Waters Floyd. It certainly isn’t. But comparisons can be useful when deciding whether to spend time with an album, and I think this one is quite apt.

Track Listing
1. Hallway (6:43)
2. Waters (5:13)
3. Brisé Volé (7:40)
4. Borrowed Time (6:23)
5. Clueless (6:06)
6. Cities (8:22)

Added: May 5th 2026
Reviewer: Aaron Steelman
Score:
Related Link: 35 Tapes Online
Hits: 9
Language: english

[ Printer Friendly Page ]
[ Send to a Friend ]