Album Review: Void - Live 1982
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Called “the first Metal Crossover band” (page 167) by Stephen Blush in his authoritative history of the movement, American Hardcore (second edition, Port Townsend: Feral House, 2010), Columbia, MA’s Void burned oh so bright in the fledgling days of USHC. Taking their name from Sabbath’s Into the Void and being a true cultural melting pot of being half-black and half-Filipino, the band’s real problem is that they just couldn’t be pigeon-holed.
In Blush’s book, guitarist Bubba DuPree comments that he even now cannot understand how Void were accepted into the HC scene: “We were so blatantly not part of it” (page 168) he goes on to say. It’s even noted that the release of their album, Poison for Bad Dreams, in 1983 was scuppered when the record company decided they were “too Metal”.
Which leaves Void with only a handful of compilation appearances, a 7” demo and the split album with The Faith – themselves fronted by Alec MacKaye, younger brother of Minor Threat / Fugazi legend, Ian.
Split over two sides of a clear vinyl, Outer Battery Records are set to release these newly rediscovered – and milestone – shows from the band, both from 1982. Side One was recorded on 30 April at Washington DC’s Wilson Center, the scene of an earlier triumph for Void, and just before the release of the split record.
This first show featured four songs that would go on to appear on album, all of which are filled with hardcore fury: Ask Them Why and Ignorant People both feature prominent bass introductions, courtesy of Chris Stover, eventually giving way to Bubba’s frenzied riffing and singer, John Weiffenbach’s madcap vocal performance. Who Are You? is introduced as an “old one” and Think as a “public service announcement” and both are rage-filled blasters.
The accusation that Void at Too Metal can be seen to find traction in the slow building opener, Shade of Grey, with its fat guitars and loose, jamming style, eschewing speed for a darker atmosphere. Spiral Staircase is more than four-minutes in length, unheard of in the USHC scene of the time, and includes Bubba going full-on Guitar God. It’s easy to see why these two tracks didn’t feature on the split.
Side Two comes from DC’s 9:30 Club and was recorded on 5 December 1982. Again, it’s heavily loaded with tracks from the split, including the chugging frenzy of My Rules, and the around one-minute whiplashing Self Defence and Organized Sports; Time to Die opens the second side with some decidedly Metal trills and plenty of cymbal crashes from sticksman Sean Finnegan.
Just seven months later and there’s a noticeable improvement in the delivery, whether that be the venue, the equipment or the band themselves developing, it results in a high energy performance. Explode feels more like an interlude, as does Let’s Party, which demonstrates the proficiency of all musical elements in Void.
Slow Burn is introduced as “a new one” and alternates between flailing guitars and doomy, brooding stomps. Going fully in on the darkness is Blood Lust, with a laidback stoner atmosphere and at nearly four-minutes long, it shows that Sabbath didn’t only influence their choice of name.
Perhaps a footnote in the history of USHC; maybe overlooked in favour of their more illustrious compardres, and possibly Too Metal, but Void Live 1982 is a short peek at one of the scene’s more eclectic participants, who were just too far ahead of their time.
