Void
Horrors of Reality
Independent
Released 02/01/2023
8/10
My god! How on earth did I miss this stunning new release from February. I guess independent bands without label support have limited promotion, but musicians of this calibre need to be given huge props! Obviously, this reviewer rightly believes so.
My website is the place to find coverage for horror and metal and Void fits right in. These young thrash stalwarts hail from Lafayette, Louisiana and formed the band back in 2019. Their debut album came out February 1st of this year and it's a ripper all the way through. Entitled "Horrors of Reality", there are 10 tracks of thrash madness goodness to be had.
I hear some Bay area thrash homage from bands like Megadeth and Exodus, but also from younger acts like Tormenter and Vindicator. The music is punchy and dominating in many sections, but the riffing stands out on many of the songs. A track like "Feeding Frenzy" charges forward with Dave Mustaine vibes all over it before pummelling into a crushing middle section. Lyrically, it's the type of song that could fit easily on Bonded by Blood, but I would remiss to say they are clones of these classic thrash acts.
Void can carry themselves alongside those Bay area acts with ease and maybe even leave a few of them behind in the dust. A song like "Godfather" is filled with meaty riff upon riff and it just kills in the lyrical department. I'm assuming it's about the movie and I can't say I have ever heard a thrash song dedicated to a classic 70's flick I truly adore.
I'm not sure who the main lyricist is, but there's a number of tracks with horror themes written in. "Voodoo" is always an interesting subject matter to write about, as is the haunting instrumental track that follows called "Ghost in the Attic". I really liked the rousing thrust of "Lazarus" and how it tells of someone rising from the dead. The riffs just blew my head off on this little ditty and I'm just falling in love with this thrasher.
The coup de grace comes in the form of "Think Fast" and it's goal to bring a mosh worthy track to the masses in 2023. There's Bonded in Blood vibes all over this, but the true star is vocalist Jackson Davenport who brings a bite-sized snarl to the proceedings and spits out lyrics I found highly entertaining listening to. Songs about violence in a moshpit never gets old for me and Void nailed this bang on! The band follow this up with the stunning guitar work of Alex Bernard and Gabe LeJeune on a track called "Mirror Maze". There's riffs a-plenty here and twists and turns coursing through six plus minutes of runtime. As the title suggests, lyrically we are told of the horrors of being trapped in a hall of mirrors. Again, this just grabbed me by the collar and never lets up.
The final song "Witching Hour" chugs and pummels along and yet brings vocals with heaping amounts of melody and intensity. The vibe here is very akin to Vindicator and more specifically The Antique Witcheries from 2010. The more I think about it, the more I realize Void brings that same punky-thrust attitude that make Vindicator stand out as well. God, we need more bands like Void to enter the thrash arena, adding to the frenetic sounds of the genre.
I can't say enough about Void. I know I'm gushing here and it would be an understatement if I said I wasn't. All of the songs on Horrors of Reality chug along with intensity and speed thrown in for good measure; giving us thrash maniacs a set of songs to jump around in the pit to. The highlight for me is the lyrical content and horror inspired thrash songs will get a lot of mileage here at HMS.
Void have also just released a new single called "Silent Onslaught" on Halloween that continues the toe-tapping vibes and horror infused lyrics. I'm loving the shit out of this too!
Favourite tracks: Feeding Frenzy, Think Fast, Lazarus and Mirror Maze.
The band gets a solid 8 out 10 Skulls.
Kenneth Gallant, HMS