London based outfit Void have been knocking around for two decades now and in their early years had strong ties with the Norwegian avant-weird scene. Czral of Ved Buens Ende, Aura Noir etc was a previous drummer Heimoth, Seth, Sinsaenum a guitarist and Khvost who really should need no introduction a vocalist at one point. Today they have not completely cut ties with that scene as anyone who attended the last Dodheimsgard UK London show will remember founding Void member Matt Jarman joining them onstage as guitarist. Today the sextet comprises of past and present members of such diverse acts as Cythraul, Antisect, ENT, Dead Existence and Kremated among others and have certainly gone a long way from the previously tagged confines of an industrial black metal band. Following communication from bassist Gerardo I found new release The Hollow Man winging its way to me on vinyl and to say I was surprised to just how large an extent they have evolved as artists is putting things mildly.
The first thing I was struck by on pulling the record out if its packaging was the absolutely fantastic artwork Valnoir of Metastazis. You simply cannot appreciate the scope and power of the fantastic imagery unless you have the record in front of you although looking at the groups Bandcamp page will give you an idea of just how fantastical it is. Inside is the dystopian narrative and complex tale that goes with the music taking in ideas that are both original and based on everything from TS Elliot to Roald Dahl along with samples subtly interwoven from Apocalypse Now, Doctor Who and others. The story is one you should follow to help gain understanding and the vocals and spoken word parts are a constant backdrop to the music, almost like they are relating an endless chatter of inner turmoil. As for the music we really do go beyond categorisation and it is every bit as complex as the themes within.
After the helicopter and poetic apocalyptica of the intro, the music starts with ‘On Reading – The Hollow Men’ and we have a mariachi type sound, strings, thick bass, vocal harmonies and spoken word parts moving into a classical frame which is suddenly torn asunder by a manic passage of blastbeats. Its all quite crazy and certainly forward-thinking and hard to pin down. Amidst it all there are the spoken parts and 3 vocalists, Matt, Levi and Laura keeping the motion going as well as what sounds like an absolute cavalcade of musicians going absolutely mental. Everyone wants some sort of reference point and to me here it would be other English eccentrics such as A Forest Of Stars, Ebony Lake and perhaps Code that could be cited. However, things never particularly stand still and switches can be flicked from track to track changing definition in a madcap fashion that must have even kept Greg Chandler (who naturally mastered it all) really on his toes. We get some zany prog meltdowns as things continue, the sort that make even the likes of Mr Bungle and Primus sound positively normal on ‘II: A Mental Break (Pink Beam of Light)’ and it is as an unhinged as it is chaotic, though somehow all gels together breaking all conventions in the process. It appears a fantastical man is being constructed by the time we get to ‘III: Loss & Regret (A Featureless Iron Mask)’ one of “chicken bones and pigeon feathers,” “broken condoms, dried blood and aerosol gas canisters” you can tie that in with the cover-art. There’s also some distinctly Ved Buens Ende sounding vocal harmonies and a huge sense of theatricality somewhere midst point between rock opera and Grand-Guignol.
I have been listening to this and just trying to keep up with its complexities for a week or so now and it is never going to be enough. In fact, to get to grips with it fully I can easily see replacement needles needed for the record deck. The album is only 38-minutes long but so much is packed into it, we even take a sidestep back into Babylonian Times before the inevitable ‘This Is The End Of The World’ (or is it?) conclusion and it really is a dizzying and rich feast every step of the way. By now more than anything I would be tagging Void as a progressive avant-garde (very avant-garde) metal group but no description quite gives justice to the huge scope of this undertaking. They really have pulled off something quite special here but those not willing to undertake a session of psychiatric musical schizophrenia be warned as you might well need therapy by the end of it. Phew….
(8.5/10 Pete Woods)
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