Album Review: Void Of Vision - 'Disturbia'

14 November 2017 | 2:31 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Void are back with a solid EP!

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Void of Vision surprise released their new four-track EP 'Disturbia' on Friday, November 10th, and it is a solid return to the roots of the band’s aggro metalcore sound. Across four tracks, the Melbourne boys cram in as many tight riffs, crushing breakdowns and respite choruses as the 11-minute runtime will allow them. This makes for an exciting listen, and while it does seem like you’re being assaulted by all these elements at once upon first listen, there is enough gold in here to reward repeated listens.

'Spite' (no relation) begins the EP with a galloping riff that will get all kinds of pits moving in full swaying force, before descending into dead set crowd-killer territory. This is where Void of Vision are at their very best, and they really play to their strengths on this track, in particular, finishing off with one hell of a breakdown (even with the somewhat annoying and overused “fuck it” pit call. Ah, some things never change).

The powerful and incredibly self-loathing lead single, 'Ghost In The Machine', is the real highlight of the set and is where Northlane’s Jon Deiley’s influence on the co-writing here shines through the strongest. The riff that drives the song forwards would fit easily into any post-'Singularity' album of theirs, paired with ethereal atmospherics and widescreen soundscapes to make it all the more evident. Heavy use of syncopation all the way through this rippin' track lends it an instantly catchy feel, particularly through the verses and the heavy breakdown at the halfway mark. Plus, alongside the whole EP, its this song that sees vocalist Jack Bergin at his most cathartic. 'Ghost In The Machine' also has probably the most effective use of clean vocals on the band’s discography - courtesy of guitarist James Mckendrick - something that has been somewhat of a problem for my own tastes in the past. But here, it works.

However, the transition between 'Ghost In The Machine' and the third song, 'You Will Bring Me Down' felt a little... unnecessary for me, especially considering the two songs are in the same key and tempo; there might have been room for a more seamless transition between the two songs, but on the other hand that might have only served to highlight the similarities between these two tracks to a fault. And these two tracks are very similar, but where 'Ghost In The Machine' has some real staying power and has been on my Spotify playlists ever since it dropped, 'You Will Bring Me Down' feels like more of a retread. I can’t tell if this is simply because most of us heard 'Ghost In The Machine' first, but it does feel disappointingly similar. Having said this, it could play to others’ tastes to hear the same elements again. And that's the weird crux about Void's music - their releases are often highly repetitive (see: 2016's 'Children Of Chrome') and lend themselves well to this EP. Thus, is kinda feels like "Okay, guys, you did this one idea very well. But what else ya got?"

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Thankfully, Void Of Vision picks the ball right back up again after a brief fumble with closer 'Grey Area', with what is the strongest track musically on the EP. This track effortlessly switches between huge melodic passages and the tight, punchy sections these dudes are so well versed in at this stage in their career. And good Lord, that transition from the chorus into that breakdown with the emotionally pained lyric “piece me back together brick by brick by fucking brick”. What a way to close up!

With two great tracks, one decent track and one disappointment, 'Disturbia' does fall short of expectations for me, but there is still a lot to be loved here. 'Spite' and 'You Will Bring Me Down', in particular, still have some great moments within them, and don’t pull the overall quality down nearly as much as they could have. There’s a lot here for what is just 11-minutes of music, and you could do a lot worse than to give it a go.

1. Spite

2. Ghost In The Machine

3. You Will Bring Me Down

4. Grey Area

'Disturbia' is out now. Stream it below: