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Reviews
Chronicles of Chaos.
This is the tenth anniversary re-release of Voice of Destruction’s debut and swansong _Bloedrivier_, originally released by German label Morbid Records and now re-released locally for the first time in their native South Africa. _Bloedrivier_ arrives with an obligatory new cover and a video for “Needledive”. The inlay states that this is Part I of the VoD archives, and in the absence of any other full-lengths, it seems that the demos will receive a re-release in the near future.
VoD were instrumental in the emergence of a metal scene in South Africa in the late Eighties and early Nineties. Much of the album’s material is derived from re-written and re-recorded demo songs, resulting in an album with some excellent moments, but also possessing its fair share of lacklustre songs.
The dominant sound appears to be doom-tinged heavy metal. Small surprise that the brief, noisy and hardcore influenced “JMSP” stands out like the proverbial sore thumb. It is the only song sung primarily in Afrikaans, but the repeated shouts of “jou ma se poes” (literally, “your mother’s cunt”) hardly endears me to this number. It may have worked well at the end of a live show and may even have been acceptable as a bonus number tacked at the end, but its location midway through the album disturbs the flow. As a break from the prevailing doom numbers, a couple of acoustic études are far more effective and maintain the requisite atmosphere. Another song resurrected from the demo days is “Goodbye”, which initially started life as “The Bye-Bye Song”. The new title is presumably an attempt to give it a more sombre makeover, but remains too upbeat for what is essentially a suicide note set to music. Not all the songs from the demo days are horrible or out of place; “Doom” has been recovered from instrumental status to a -proper- song with the addition of some lyrics. Alongside “A Beast Is Born” and “If I Had a Soul Pt III”, it deserves to be a part of metal classic canon from the southern tip of Africa.
VoD were a band that should have been but never were, a band that broke up before they had a chance of realising their full potential. Although the musical skills of their constituent members were not to be wasted (vocalist Francois Blom formed Kobus!, later joined by drummer Paul Blom, and released a stunning album earlier this year), another VoD album never came to be, and demos aside, this flawed album is a solitary testament to their legacy.
http://chroniclesofchaos.com/articles.aspx?id=2-4916
Very original metal band from South Africa - 89%
“Bloedrivier” is a very strange album, mixing many different styles and musical directions, not unlike Hypocrisy’s “Abducted” album. I didn’t listen to the band’s demos, which -as long as I know- were in hardcore vein. In this album the band represents their hardcore roots but at the same time, moves into a more metal direction.
The album can be divided into two parts. The songs 1-7 represent the main part of this album and they have the same direction, some kind of mixture of melodic heavy metal, doom metal and death/thrash metal. The rest of the songs are more rooted in Hardcore and altogether they have a quite different sound.
The first part of the album starts with the instrumental title track which serves as an intro to the album. After a doomy guitar interlude, the drums and bass join and the thing turns into a thrashy instrumental. “Doom” is also in this vein, with tons of catchy guitar melodies which add quite an emotional atmosphere to the music. The vocals are quite harsh, not the typical death grunts. One important thing to note here is the use of bass guitar. Imagine Steve Harris playing bass for a thrash or death metal band, in his Piece Of Mind and The Number Of The Beast way. This is some excellent playing and adds a lot to the power of their sound. Next in line we have the speed metal monster “A Beast Is Born” which also gives way to a doomy breakdown part. “Religion” is a strange “heavy metal meets doom metal” type of ballad which is amazingly emotional and melancholic. The highlight of the first part though, is “If I Had A Soul Part 3”. This is the doomiest song of the album, with a slow tempo, very simple but effective melodies and again a killer use of bass guitar. Absolutely amazing.
The next part has 3 “real” songs. “J.M.S.P.” sounds like old Napalm Death. “Goodbye” is some melodic hardcore. Both of these songs sound like they were recorded in a different studio in a different time and compared to the rest of the album they are a bit weak. The album closer “Needledive” though, is a very melodic & catchy tune which ties the things to the first part of the album.
There’s also 2 hidden live tracks at the end of the CD. They are both your basic death/core tunes, with a poor sound, so nothing to write home about there.
Overall, “Bloedrivier” is a unique, highly enjoyable and overall catchy album which most of the time delves into the melancholic side of emotions. Highly recommended if you like Iron Maiden, My Dying Bride and Suicidal Tendencies equally.
https://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/Voice_of_Destruction/Bloedrivier/16300/