In 2023 Sierra Veins (formerly known as Sierra) released one of most powerful darksynth albums the scene has ever heard with Stronger. It was a career build-up to perfection as she evolved with both voice and sound featuring top notch collaborations and her signature blend of cinematic synths and dance beats. To say that she has become one of my favorite musicians of the modern era is an understatement; whenever I hear that she’s coming out with something new I froth at the mouth in anticipation. And that feeling never dissipated as I waited for her brand-new album In The Name Of Blood to fall before us.
Rain trickles down onto the earth and a wave of atmospheric electronic pulses wash over in the intro to the album’s first and title track. Punchy bass hits in with Veins’ vocal warping between spoken word bliss and deepened, almost cyborg-like chords with slight digital effects added onto them. The track worms through dance phases and parts with twangy guitars such as around the one-minute and forty-five second mark.
The second track sees the one and only collaboration with Mau5trap alumni Ghost Dance. It’s a blistering four-on-the-floor rhythm that never lets up in its four-minute run. Who I Used To Be is a song of anger and frustration featuring a moderate pace so every last beat sinks in hard. Halfway through we dive headfirst into a frenetic techno beat till it’s shutdown by Veins’ trademark cinematic synths before reverting right back into that slow crawl until the finale brings the pace back up and sends us off flying.
The One comes up next and is a testament to Veins’ dedication to cinematic music. The theme song to a cyberpunk version of a James Bond film; no matter how loud the beats are it never feels poorly mixed. This has been master crafted. Ain’t No Woman is another slow-burn single with my only complaint the vocals in the beginning of the song. Best way I can explain it is that it sounds like there’s too much static with her delivery, or that she’s speaking through gritted teeth too close to the mic. Something like that. These vocals come out a few times in the song but it’s most notable then. That being said the rest of the track is phenomenal.
I view My Poison as the unofficial anthem of the album considering this was the first track that I heard from In The Name Of Blood. If this track hits the dancefloor and doesn’t get everyone moving and dancing immediately there’s something wrong with the club. Desire puts an electro spin on Veins’ songwriting. It sounds like the perfect song for an arcade racer with some of the synths even reminding me of the sound a supercar would make speeding through a tunnel during a street race.
The final two tracks on the album hail back to Veins’ cinematic approach. I could see both of these going into some kind of instrumental / relaxation playlist for sci-fi and cyberpunk enthusiasts and could easily see these being used in the next titular Cyberpunk video game at some point. It Was Written has noises that sound like a distress call from a downed ship and somber synths that sound like a funeral song. Big beats come later in the track but more or less as a revelation and not something that’s meant to be danced to. It’s a gorgeous track through and through with layers upon layers. The final song on the album The End of Time is a true send-off. Slow, melancholic, featuring layered vocals that seem to transition into full on cyborg mode.
Sierra Veins doesn’t need to cement her name in the underground electronic scene as she’s already been imprinted there like a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This isn’t even a case of her proving that she still has it; it’s a legend in the making whose music always hits hard and wins over most everyone who listens to it. Since her roots with Strange Valley there’s not a single portion of her portfolio that has yet to be conquered and she continues to evolve. In The Name Of Blood is added into 2025’s best of list and for good measure.
