Empty Fun

Infinite Void's name might have you thinking black metal, and the looming cathedral on the cover of their self-titled debut album won't convince you otherwise. But the Melbourne quartet are firmly planted in atmospheric punk and post-punk, taking cues as much from the members' past punk bands as from the smudged sonics of My Bloody Valentine, Joy Division and Pornography-era Cure. Of course, that last influence can't help but stoke a certain goth vibe.

“Most definitely,” bassist/singer Alicia Sayes concurs. “There are little stealth inverted crosses on the cathedral, and ratty looking pigeons on the back with beetles. [The artists collectively known as] Snotty, who drew the original in ink, captured the essence of the sound. The inserts for the LPs are also fairly sad in flavour.”

But honestly, there's not much time for getting bummed while listening to Infinite Void. There's simply too much going on. Guitarist/singer Jacquie Hynes and guitarist Tristan Clarke lock into conversational dynamics as Sayes' bass powers along and drummer Scott Viney contributes both anxious fills and a bruising pace. Those sharp, interlocking guitars will be familiar to anyone who knew Hynes and Sayes' previous band, The Diamond Sea, as well as their current other band, Deep Heat. Ditto the tense, call-and-response vocals.

“Not sure if it's really intentional,” muses Sayes. “A lot of the time we write songs at band practice from just jamming out. Everyone writes their own parts. Perhaps it's just unconscious dynamics between how we all play music together.” On that note, it's worth pointing out that Hynes played for years with Clarke in the punk band Schifosi, and Viney was a member of The Diamond Sea as well.

Then there are those disorienting effects. “Nothing that a whole heap of reverb and chorus can't do,” she downplays. “Having said that, though, we did all do a few extra guitar tracks, just some wash and feedback. That was the most fun: finishing the live recording and then adding layers. There was a point where we were all looking at each other, not knowing what the hell was going on, because there were so many pedals plugged in and the sounds coming out were absurd.”

For this first album, which follows a four-song demo recorded by Viney, Infinite Void enlisted Steven Smith from the Melbourne trio Scul Hazzards to helm the recording. He had acted as last-minute soundman at a gig for the band, and afterwards he offered his services and said he could get them a great sound. As he's someone Sayes calls both a shredder and guitar nerd, it made perfect sense.

Smith helped achieve the album's thick atmosphere, giving the songs spooky depth of field even as instruments and voices collide again and again with fiery urgency. The reference material the band gave Smith for their desired sound included the Jesus And Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine, it turns out. And like in those bands, the vocals don't ride high at the top in Infinite Void. Instead, they thrive down in the midst of everything else. “It helps give some clarity to the songs,” Sayes observes, “but still blends into the layers and softens the sound.”

The album sees CD and vinyl release via Poison City – plus a limited run of 100 LPs on blue vinyl.

Getting back to that name, do people ever mistake Infinite Void for something a bit darker and more intense than they are? If not black metal, maybe noise or hardcore? “I haven't come across that really,” answers Sayes, “but I suppose people might think we're a hardcore band based on past bands and the fact that we play with hardcore bands sometimes. Little do they know we're the easy listening session of the night.” Relatively speaking, that is.