Album Review: Vacuous - Dreams of Dysphoria
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Vacuous are a band I only came across extremely recently. I actually had the opportunity to see Vacuous perform at the Black Heart in London not long ago, supporting Casketfeeder, however I was unable to catch them play. It was why I was curious to see what their debut album, Dreams Of Dysphoria, would be like, it’d end up being my initial exposure to Vacuous’ sound. Vacuous basically started up as band during the pandemic of 2020 yet still managed to get together to release not only their first Demo but also their first EP. A live album of a performance in Leeds dropped in 2021 however, towards the end of this year is when we’ll finally get the true unveiling of what these guys can offer us. Time to see what these Londoners will be giving us, when Dreams Of Dysphoria formally releases come mid-October.
Instead of the full frontal assault some extreme metal bands may give us, Vacuous opt for the route of soundscape that I deeply appreciate: something that’s morbid, massive and takes it’s time to instil its atmosphere into us. The opening track, “Devotion”, is a shining example of how a band can open up their record to a new audience, especially when the band in question are performing their debut full length release also. Later in the track, the band unleash one swathe of blast beat after another with riffs darkened by tone that craft a genuinely terrifying atmosphere without the band pressing down on such a notion too hard. All in all, it demonstrates how Vacuous have a keen understanding on how to immerse their audience without needing to subject them to a ton of elements that would otherwise detract our attention away from the songwriting. For a first album, it’s incredibly promising.
I liked how the vocals were of the deeper, guttural nature not merely because they have a brutal aesthetic to them, but because their lower tone meshes seamlessly with the form of songwriting and tone the record displays on the whole. It’s not the kind of delivery that’s allowing you to make out what each word is however, the depth they’re being performed at merges well with the overall soundscape and thereby continues to round out the band’s sound as something that isn’t easily punctured or seen through. Vacuous manage to use their vocals in an atmospheric ploy without deliberately trying for an atmospheric stance. It is good though that the vocals do rise from time to time, only they don’t just climb but rise in a terrible shriek that makes their strength all the more harrowing.
The doom elements surprised me. When I put this album on, I thoroughly expected a band that was keenly towards straight up death metal, yet throughout Dreams Of Dysphoria, it becomes exceedingly clear the band were looking to pull off more than just that. We have segments where the band’s songwriting may be much more aggressive and visceral for a good portion of a track before the band dial things right down and we get a viable death/doom vibe flowing through their sound all the while acknowledging how the overall pace of their sound doesn’t change too greatly. It’s evident the band had an idea for how they wanted their album to sound, it’s something rather particular yet they weren’t satisfied in simply putting their record within a box and then allowing it to have all the usual boxes ticked. I applaud Vacuous, on their first album, for immediately attempting to set themselves apart from so many of their contemporaries.
I liked how the drums differed from the overall tone of the record. The general mix is already geared towards a bass-driven and powerful sounding album so if the band were to employ drums that were as equally mighty and meaty, it could threaten to overbalance the record. You might have had an album that feels far bolder than it needs to be, potentially weighing down increasingly on the audience. The drums for the most part are light, clearly utilising their loosely taut resonance to establish a drumming presence that easily winds it’s way through the record without getting caught against the massive soundscape the band propagate. It’s only during blast beats and greater levels of intensity that the drums leap into the darker reaches of their capability, so for the most part the drumming is pretty rudimentary and gives us that necessary room to breathe. I haven’t heard such a noticeable cowbell in a death metal album for some time.
In conclusion, Dreams Of Dysphoria is a blindingly good first outing of a studio album for a band that has been active for all of two years. There’s very little fat on this album, everything the band wished to include has been applied for a reason and what’s more, it’s an extreme metal record that isn’t so punishing on our senses that listening to it is a feat. It manages to be a rather immersive listen without the band actively shoving their atmospheric plans directly into your face, they know you’re not stupid and treat you as an equal. It knows when to press the attack but also, pleasantly as a find, knows when to scale back its onslaught to give us something unique, slower. Just this small inclusion of variety within their songwriting suggests bigger things to come and I personally am excited for what Vacuous may do next. This is a great start for the band, a debut album any band would be happy to sport.
