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Reviews
Progressive madmen - 85%
The Voice of Destruction EP is a lesson in appreciation of transition.
On “Black Cathedral” and “Bloedrivier”, the band is unabashedly thrash with only a few mellow moments thrown in. This EP however, is what highlighted the doom in V.O.D which had previously been trampled underfoot by all that madman riffage and insane poundage.
Opener “If I Had A Soul, Part 1” is a very evocative song. A gloomy clean guitar riff opens the song accompanied by Diccon Harper’s haunting bass. The riff quickly moves into distortion bringing forth the crashing barrage of Paul Blom’s drums and Francois’ barking vocals yet the shambling tempo remains undettered. Until about 2:25 that is, when it all comes undone devolving into a psycho-brutal thrash attack reminiscent of Strapping Young Lad circa “Alien”. The main riff immediately returns for a short while before Harper starts noodling on his bass, his notes given ambient clarity to back Blom’s distant whispered mumblings about “disembodied pain”.
Part 2 of the same song starts off with a distorted riff that was played cleanly at the close of Part 1. This is a much weirder V.O.D that fans of their meatier material would take eons to adjust to. “Part 2” plays around drastic tempo shifts-moving from wailing, quiet doomy moments to tempestuous thrash-but the brilliance of this progression is Paul Blom’s drumming which never falters. The lyrics and vocal delivery is more aggro but given a gloomy twist by Francois’ bass deep wail which sounds abysmal. Worshipers of Celtic Frost would love this.
“Jou ma se poes” comes soon after and sounds like a bad Venom song. A minute later, they introduce background noise that sounds like shouts of randy young men at an inititiation ceremony somewhere in the wilds of Swaziland. The riff is helped immensely by the ever dependable Paul Blom’s punky pounding.
Closing song “Needledive” possesses one of V.O.D’s best riffs. It has a melodic texture but is insistent and rapid, given brute power by Paul’s vehement poundage, pretty much like Mastodon’s “Blood and Thunder” main riff.
This song was later re-recorded for the “Bloedrivier” album. Highly recommended, by the way!
I am, of course, a huge Voice of Destruction fan but you don’t have to be to enjoy the progressive brilliance displayed here. Even when it sounds like they’re falling apart, the songs are saved by a taut rhythm section and consistent, flawless drumming. The vocal delivery is gloomy and grim but also unserious and freely expansive. Listen to this first and then plonk on “Bloedrivier”. The two nicely complement each other.
https://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/Voice_of_Destruction/Voice_of_Destruction/33827/