I’ll tell you right now, this thing is an absolute beast. Welcome to Dystopia doesn’t just stand there and look at you from across the room; it kicks in the door, punches you in the gut, and demands that you listen. The Veer Union is back, and they’re pissed. This is the kind of record that’ll make you want to smash your radio and start a revolution, even if you don’t have a clear idea of what that revolution is. But one thing is certain: The Veer Union is pissed about something, and if you’ve got any sense of self-awareness left, you’ll know exactly what it is.
We’re talking about Welcome to Dystopia here, a hard-hitting statement on all that is wrong with the world, all wrapped up in jagged, gnashing guitars and those guttural screams that make your spine tingle in a way that feels like it’s supposed to hurt. The title alone tells you exactly what’s coming. We live in a society that’s decaying, rotting from the inside out, and these guys aren’t afraid to rub your face in it. If you’ve been keeping up with the constant circus of horrors that’s been parading across the news these days, this album might hit you harder than a freight train running at full speed.
This is rock in the 21st century, an era where everything feels like it’s about to collapse into oblivion. But let’s back up for a minute. To really understand what’s happening here, we have to look at the evolution of rock music and its fiery little cousin, screamo. The roots of rock stretch back to the mid-20th century, when artists like Chuck Berry and Little Richard first got people to shake their hips and lose their minds to the rhythm. Fast forward through the 60s and 70s, and you’ve got The Who, Zeppelin, and Bowie—all of them pushing rock to places it was never meant to go, expanding what could be considered “music” into a sort of cultural war. By the 90s, grunge arrived to bring a wave of angst and disillusionment that poured into every crack in the American psyche, and out of that came the birth of screamo—a subgenre that took punk’s angry, loud edge and gave it an emotional, sometimes almost cathartic intensity. Bands like At the Drive-In and early Thursday gave birth to a whole generation of bands that weren’t just screaming for attention; they were screaming for salvation.
And now, here we are, with The Veer Union taking all that chaos and frustration and putting it into a tightly wound package that bursts with aggression. From the moment the first track, “No Excuse,” kicks in, you know exactly what you’re in for. It’s raw, it’s loud, it’s unrelenting. The lyrics are pissed-off, like someone’s been keeping score of all the ways the system has failed us—and it’s not just political. There’s an emotional devastation here that you can’t ignore, a sense of being lost in the vast machinery of it all, like trying to scream in a world where no one is listening. “We’re not okay, we’re not alright, we’re drowned by daggers in the light,” the band roars, and it’s hard not to feel every ounce of that.
But what sets The Veer Union apart from some of their contemporaries is the way they balance that rage with moments of unexpected grace. Sure, they’ll scream and they’ll wail, but they know when to pull back and give you a moment to breathe. Take “Shades of Gray,” for example—a track that lets its hooks breathe before launching into a gut-punch of an outro that feels like the musical equivalent of being thrown off a cliff and realizing halfway down that there’s still hope. It’s in the balance between the aggression and the space between the notes that the true magic of this record exists.
The title track, “Welcome to Dystopia,” is the centerpiece of the whole damn thing. Here, the band leans into the screamo influence fully—there’s no pretension, no posturing. It’s just fury and a whole lot of frustration, wrapped in the kind of visceral, unrelenting scream that makes you feel like you’re drowning. And that’s the thing about this album: it’s a complete emotional experience. It’s not just about the angry guitars and the shrieking vocals; it’s about how all of it comes together to make you feel the weight of the world pressing down on you. The lyrics cut straight to the heart: “In the heart of the ruins, where it all began,” they sing, and it’s like the band is giving you a map to follow through the wasteland of their minds, one bleak step at a time.
“Dig Their Own Graves” is another highlight, a track that’s as much about personal rebellion as it is about systemic collapse. It’s about rejecting the lies that the world keeps telling you and staring down the wreckage, fully aware that it’s all going to hell—but still finding the strength to resist. It’s not just a song, it’s a declaration. “Open your eyes to their same old lies,” they shout, and it feels like an awakening.
But let’s not kid ourselves: this isn’t a record for the faint of heart. This is a band that’s all about making noise, making a mess, and tearing down the walls that separate the truth from the lies. It’s hard, it’s angry, it’s beautiful in its chaos. If you’ve been searching for a soundtrack to the disillusionment of the modern world, this is it. It’s rock as a weapon. And God knows, we could use a few more bands like The Veer Union in these days of existential crisis.
In the end, Welcome to Dystopia isn’t just an album—it’s a battle cry for anyone who’s still willing to fight. And if you’re not ready to pick up the torch, well, you better start running. Because this is one dystopia that’s hard to escape.
Mindy McCall
