Music Review: POST DEATH SOUNDTRACK’s Veil Lifter

POST DEATH SOUNDTRACK’s fourth full-length release, Veil Lifter, is a tempestuous 10-track Molotov cocktail that channels doom, grunge, hardcore, and thrash into a crushing new record. Following the orchestrated industrial soundscapes of their third album, It Will Come Out of Nowhere, Jon Ireson and Stephen Moore have taken a sharp turn to an unruly organic live sound.

This fresh ‘doom grunge’ approach draws inspiration from the likes of Alice in Chains, Black Sabbath, Nirvana, and The Stooges, as well as contemporary heavyweights such as Russian Circles, Windhand, Queens of the Stone Age, and YOB. Sludgy riffs, hardcore fury, hypnotic grooves, and ethereal ambience work in concert to conjure a singularly affecting vision. Veil Lifter is a relentless charge throughout, capturing the outsider mentality of a threatening pack of hyenas.

Thematically, Veil Lifter is provocative, incisive, and wholly uncensored. It serves as a rousing invocation of spiritual weaponry, a meditation on mental illness, and a bold expression of terrifying realities. The title is derived from an Eastern philosophy-inspired phrase, “lifting the veil of ignorance,” pointing to the intrinsic truths beyond external forms and ideas. Shamanic visions, shadowy dreamscapes, and a scorched Earth backdrop the protagonist’s retreat to icy underground waters before confronting the mountain of renewal and unbecoming.

Steve Moore describes Veil Lifter as the album he’s always wanted to make, intended to be raw, emotionally cathartic, and freeing. Written from a place of deep personal turmoil during nearly impossible times, the album reflects themes of isolation, depression, addiction, chaos, and resilience. The heavy metaphor and dream language interspersed with ideas from Advaita, the Gita, Zen, and philosophers like Krishnamurti create a powerful, evocative experience.

Dedicated to the memory of Moore’s father, Ted George Moore, Veil Lifter was built from a treasure trove of guitar parts that Moore sent to Ireson daily. This new direction was inspired by a mix of slow dirges and faster hardcore elements, signaling a departure from their previous electronic production style. The album’s bones came together quickly, with the addition of Moore’s vocal layers, fuzzy melodic bass lines, and the intensity of Casey Lewis’s contributions bringing the record to life.

Visceral tracks like “Lowdown Animal” embody the band’s hyena symbolism. Moore explains, “The hyena has become a kind of symbol for the band. With lions, tigers, and bears, you have a good idea of what to expect from their brute strength. But hyenas represent the outsider, the unwelcome drifter, the cursed sneak. We’ll sneak up, surround the mighty lion, and take it down while laughing.”

Veil Lifter was released on digital platforms on April 16th, and was followed by a limited edition vinyl run. The promotional rollout included two music videos: “Hammer Come Down,” which was banned from Google and YouTube ads for ‘negative imagery,’ and “Immovable,” a sludge metal epic inspired by Advaita Vedanta, dedicated to Moore’s father.

Veil Lifter is a raw, unfiltered exploration of heavy music’s power to channel deep emotional truths, making it an essential listen for fans of doom, grunge, and all things intense and unapologetic.