Similar in size and scope to Brain Salad Surgery or Three of a Perfect Pair, The Red Veil is an epic recording that, outside of its own sphere of influence, doesn't make a whole lot of sense. There's nothing here for the average listener to hang his hat on -- Subarachnoid Space's music is utterly devoid of crunchy choruses, withering guitar solos, or flirty "ba ba ba"s.

The band submerge themselves in cavernous recesses of microbial noise, where guitars drip e-bowed notes like perpetually bloody noses and huge cascades of rolling thunder-drums kick down mountain sides. "Ourobouros" displays an affinity for classic rock structures, particularly with its jagged, arpeggiated guitar lines and loping elliptical bass figure. "Trainable" contains trace elements of Tool's vengeful art-metal bluster, especially as it builds towards its tumultuous finish.

Perhaps predictably, the mercurial heft that gives Subarachnoid Space their ambient flair is the same attribute that drags the title track into the realm of sheer unlistenability; four minutes of sparse drones and errant flanging segue into a thick sludge of contorted rhythmic figures and the type of hellswept guitar noodling that even Robert Fripp would balk at. That said, the current musical landscape is still a far more interesting place for having Subarachnoid Space within it; they'd simply do well to show a bit of restraint once in a while.