VO/ID – The ‘OHMs/FAILURES’ EP.
VO/ID – Washington DC/Baltimore, USA.
Cover photo credit: McBean Photography – Click Here.
(Above) Photo credit – Seth Herzog.
Based in around the musical hubs (thats music, not Musicals, lets not make that mistake) of Baltimore an Washington DC, VO/ID – pronounced ‘No Void’ are a Post-Hardcore band that cite influences very hard for anyone to ignore, especially when the more progressive side of Punk and Metal beckon.
Botch, Converge, Glassjaw, At The Drive-in, Refused, Fugazi, Jawbox, Deafheaven – all of these names have collectively produced some of the best in Punk, Hardcore, Post-Hardcore, Post-Metal, Post-Hardcore and other equally influential amalgamations and progressive stylistics since sliced bread.
VO/ID recently released their latest three-track effort entitled OHMs/FAILURES and with all the name-drops above it would be unfair to keep you waiting…
‘Mountains’ wastes absolutely no time in pushing forth the plethora of influence the band draw from. Mildly high-pitched vocals are sat just behind a dulcet guitar tone, while a gentle rumble guides it along before the progressive build up begins to yield it’s power in a slow ebb from the half way point.
The band’s Post-Rock and Post-Metal appreciation doesn’t go unnoticed and neither does the Black Metal-gloss over the latters’s riffs, if such a thing exists.
It’s true that ‘Mountains’ does feel somewhat prematurely ended but you find it’s succeeded in the enthralment of the listener (you) before the beautifully discordant chaos of ‘1926’.
Far more in-line with the bands’ Glassjaw and At The Drive-In citations. The high-pitched and often maniacal vocals feel more at home among the haunting blackened surroundings with the sharp riffage contrasting well with almost classic Post-Hardcore guitar leads.
‘1926’ is intensity compressed and stands as the best of the three. I also thoroughly recommend reading the lyrical listing on bandcamp while your grasp on reality bleeds from your ears.
If the previous is intensity compressed then closer ‘Vessel’ is the hidden prime cut of that intensity set for sacrifice in honour of H. P. Lovecraft’s Nyarlathotep.
Chaotic metallic Post-Hardcore with nods the “everything heavy” band Converge can be heard up until the 1:50 mark where another haunting build up that sounds akin to the soundtrack of your nightmare post-Horror Film binge.
It would be credible to say that No Void can be difficult to listen too at times, you are accosted and lambasted by so much in the way of sonic power that you don’t know what to do or how to feel. That said, despite all that I am still enthralled and you will likely be too.
The band genre-cross but rather than over ambitiously draw from everything under the (blackened) sun, they trap their influences and cross between them, confining them but allowing them enough living space to produce what has resulted in a stellar release.
Find the band below:
- For updates, head to Facebook.
- The OHMs/FAILURES EP can be found on bandcamp alongside the bands’ previous work.
#StayFresh
