EP Review: Void of Vision - Chronicles II: Heaven
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
As Aussie Metalcore band, Void of Vision, are fast approaching their tenth anniversary it only seems right that they regale us with a new set of songs. With only two full-length and a handful of EPs to their name, Void of Vision have comparatively smashed out this follow up to 2021’s Chronicles I: Lust EP, having barely six months between release dates.
And it’s not as though the Melbourne four-piece have simply regurgitated the ideas of that release and repackaged them here. Rather, Chronicles II: Heaven is a far more positive collection of songs, rejecting its predecessor’s wallowing in melancholy and despair and, instead, imbuing hopefulness and optimism.
Void of Vision have assembled eighteen minutes of broad, cinematic soundscapes, each one having an unmistakably cutting edge. It is a collection of opposites as the band celebrate the juxtaposition of a Metalcore sensibility with an Industrial fervour.
Berghain sees a series of comparisons between the tight breakdowns and sweeping industrial passages; Altar features Creeper’s Hannah Greenwood and finds her trading vocal blows with Jack Bergan’s tortured voice. All the while George Murphy’s drums seem to foreshadow the end of the world.
Dominatrix is hugely bottom heavy – which is a remarkable achievement from twin guitarist James McKendrick and Mitch Fairlie, considering the band has been without a bass player since 2017 – yet messers McKendrick and Fairlie effortless manage to shoot sharp guitar lines across the bough of this track and, ultimately, render it with pop-sensibilities.
Void of Vision manage to combine hardcore, metalcore and even electro-pop in a manner that lands far from being the mess that description would suggest. Saint Miserable takes many of the electronic elements and seemingly fires them off at random amid its slow and deliberate beats.
Lead single Into the Dark – co-written by Architect’s drummer, Dan Searle – is the band’s first bone fide love song and is the premier of Jack’s clean-singing style. The ordered electronic elements give the track a widescreen aspect and feature some sharp, staccato guitar.
At the time of writing Void of Vision were gearing up for a US tour with August Burns Red and We Came as Romans, so the stage is being set for the band to make that leap to the next level. On the strength of Chronicles II: Heaven, they’ll make it with ample room to spare.
