Void of Sleep : "The Abyss Into Which We All Have to Stare"

It's been 2015 since we covered Void of Sleep. I remember the album being on the harder rock side of sludge, but let's see how they have evolved as a band in the past decade. The first actual song on this album feels more atmospheric than what I remember from them. The vocals fall in a manner not unlike Mastodon's more melodic moments. The vocals are belted in a more doom-like manner when things build dynamically. "Misfortune Teller" works along similar lines with a more syncopated Tool creep to it than the previous song. 

"Lullaby of Woe" is more moody and progressive, with the vocals just riding the riffs rather than being a hooky focus on the songwriting. The vocals sit back in the mix to make this more apparent, and a thick atmosphere hovers over the guitar. At almost 10 minutes, they milk the mood for as long as they can. It slowly builds up for a simmering breakdown. They jam off this for almost half the song. Around the 8-minute mark, a guitar solo creates the chance to build things.

 There is a similar shadowy pulse to "From an Unborn Mother," it gives the vocals more room for introspective crooning, though they still still back in the mix. The hypnotic brooding that weaves into form certainly shares some common groove with Tool in the almost Middle Eastern feel that slithers from it. A saxophone solo provdies a sonic change of pace that is preferred to just having another guitar solo, not that they are obsessed with shredding, but needed the change of sonic colors. 

They continue to stay in a jammy midset for "Phantoms of Nihil". The vocals do not come until the two-minute mark, and while they are more forward in the mix, they are not as nuanced as what we heard earlier in the album, though they do build into a more aggressive tone. It feels a little awkward at times. It does not feel like they have spent the last decade working to perfect this element of their sound. The breakdown at the five-minute mark was well timed, though it offers nothing new from them when they jam over it. 

The last song is the darkest and heaviest mood of the album. The vocal harmonies create more of a grunge vibe. I will give this album an 8, which is what their last album received, meaning that these guys are consistent. If you like grunge and progressive rock and wish the two were married more often, then this album will be worth checking out. It drops on Aural Music October 17th, so fans of the band have something to look forward to. 

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Arcana 13 : "Danza Macabra"

Comprised of members from Mnemic and Void of Sleep and like many Italian metal bands finds inspiration from the countries cult horror movie scene. There brand of doom draws influence from the throne of Sabbath and some of it's earliest worshippers such as Pentagram. So there is often a rock boogie feel to it. The opener is well done , but sticks pretty close to a color by numbers blue print. So going into this album what I am listening for is where they stray from that and show me who they are . The songs are typically bookended by pieces of horror movie atmosphere. The pace picks up going into the second song to give it a heavier Electric Wizard like intensity. I think "Land of Revenge" is a stronger song as the vocals have more purpose , where they seemed to be obligatory on the first two songs. Vocally things are song in a very plaintive tenor that recalls middle of the road 70's hard rock like Blue Oyster Cult.


They turn a darker and more melodic corner at the beginning of " Oblivion Mushroom" before it's business as usual for this sort of thing and they are chugging the same path paved by Iommi. The Suspiria theme song that is a cover of Goblin's version, not not the albums high point. The riff to "Blackmaster" has more groove to it , the vocals to do ride it as gracefully as they could. They don't wow me until we get to the song "Holy Cult of Suicide". Then everything clicks in place and I'm wondering , now why hasn't there been more of this ? "Hell Behind You" continues to find the band showing their true selves as the dive down deeper into more melodic territory. The vocals sound like the guy is using his real voice and not trying to front a Blue Oyster Cult, even when they hit the "Mississippi Queen" section of the song and boogie down. The album does hit these two glorious songs in the final act, but is also bogged down by typical retro metal, so I'll give it a 7.5, which shows these guys have promise and if this is your kind of party and you don't need much more then you might even round it up.
 

Void Of Sleep : "New World Order"

At first they made me think they were going to be a heavier version of what Ghost currently does , then heading toward the second son I began to get strong Opeth vibes of them, then strong 90s vibes. They throw in some jumpy angular groove and work of the bouncing build up dynamic that Nu-metal once utilized, perhaps it is from a Tool influence, since they did have  profound impact on that genre of music and most of metal in the late 90s.  Not to say they are anything like Korn, but these guys are not your normal sludge merchants who were raised on a steady diet of Neurosis. The vocals are mostly clean there are a few throaty barks.

A more rock tinged riff leads off "Slaves Shall Serve". The vocals are a little more forceful and the song has almost a more classic gallop to it. It proves to quantify the heaviness factor when the band slows into more of a stomp. The melodies are more dialed in here. The summon a more Kyuss like rumble for " Ordo Ab Chao" , before spiraling into a more Tool like break down. No " New World Order" is not a cover of the Ministry song, it's slightly A Perfect Circle like excursion into mellow prog. It does build into a more Tool-ish rock and the song has a pleasing flow to it . These guys are obviously skilled musicians to bring Tool and Opeth comparisons, but this was not what I thought I was signing up for going into this. The hook on this song is one of the album's stronger vocals lines and while I prefer actual singing to growling, at times it seems as if the vocals could stand to choose more minor melodies to darken things up.  They might be influenced by Tool, they are not as dark as Tool.

The close out the album with the ambitious 14 minute "Ending Theme". They go a more Opeth route here , but with more of a doomy lumber to it. This song like many of the other have lyrics that dip into metaphoric conspiracy theories. The chorus doesn't really jump out of the wandering riff that might be the verse. At the six minute mark they enter a angular prog b-section that returns to one to the more pounding groove that they established in a manner similar to what King Crimson does on their "Red" album.  Their bassist does his job as being the sinewy glue to hold some of these riffs together. I am surprised there have not been a bunch of shredding guitar solos, instead they tend to hit you with one catchy riff after another,which there is nothing wrong with , but sometimes I find myself wondering where it all is leading to. The answer in the final two minutes of the song is into a doomy riff, that is followed by a riff that sounds like it is off of "Starless and Bible Black".

Overall these guys can not be denied in terms of their sound, they might not be the most original band under the sun , but at least they wear the influence of great bands on their sleeves.I'll give this one an 8, if you are just looking for some solid prog that is often more hard rock than metal , but is not mired down with too much wanking or high brow music theory then these guys are certainly worth your time.