Album/EP

Void Of Vision - What I’ll Leave Behind (Album Review)

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

Sep 15, 2024

7 min read

Void Of Vision - What I'll Leave Behind
Released: September 20, 2024

Lineup

Jack Bergin // Vocals
James McKendrick // Guitar & Vocals
Mitch Farley // Guitar
George Murphy // Drums

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Void Of Vision have long dominated the scene for their craftsmanship and storytelling, indulging listeners through their maze of thoughts within the past albums. However, their most recent album, What I'll Leave Behind, has seen these two elements put to the test, traversing through frontman, Jack Bergin’s, recent struggle with seizures, brain bleeds, and medical nightmares. What is craftsmanship without the craftsman? What I’ll Leave Behind offers a humbling and emotionally fuelled glimpse at morality, existentialism, and the fate that dangles and shifts in front of our very eyes. In turn, the Melbourne quartet has created the pinnacle of their storytelling journey.

The album opens with ‘Oblivion’. Much to its namesake, the song finds you descending a spiral of industrial clatters and grandiose buzzings that morph themselves into, at times, an almost heavenly choir sound. Not before long, Bergin’s tantalizing and signature vocals infiltrate the track; vocals of which are steeped in a layer of ruggedness and emotion, exposing the very anguish that fuels him. ‘Oblivion’ poses our first look at the beautiful verse to chorus dichotomy, with ethereal and floating vocals bringing back these angelic feelings found within the chaos on the opening instrumentals. At its core, the track is a declaration, opening this body of work with a call to arms, that this album is for everything that came before, everything that comes next, and everything that lingered through them to force this album’s creation.

Next up is ‘Blood For Blood’. Opening with a dancey and fast-paced beat, it is clear to see these industrial and technological elements are the foundation of this record’s unique and distinct style. Audibly, it ties in with the jarring graphics of the album artwork, also reminiscent of the same sterile, dark, metallic nature of the imagery at hand. So too, ‘Blood For Blood’ sees VoV hone in on the use of vocal distortion, blurring the lines of reality and dreaming, and pain’s ranging influence. This offering is aggressive, with pure anger seeping not only from Bergin’s disgruntled and aching screams, but the intensity of the instrumentals. Raging drums are crawled over by unwavering guitars, which are shoved by a heavy bass- every element is making its mark. ‘Blood For Blood’s personal standout is within its insane tempo change just before the breakdown. It's anxiety-inducing- and this is a testament to the way Void Of Vision controls their music, and the feelings it can conjure.

‘Supernova’ houses an opening that almost pays homage to that of ‘Dominatrix’, sharing a familiarity and warmth in its callback (and these callbacks remain soft yet prevalent). Despite the ever-present backing screams and charged verses, I find ‘Supernova’ builds its strength in the delicacy of its chorus, with Jack’s clean vocals offering a sharp and poignant vulnerability aided by a sense of admission and proclamation. Tied together with the imposing instrumentals behind him, this song seems so much bigger than itself, and leaves you with an almost achy feeling. It feels as though in this storyline, the audience has been let in undistracted by the moments of heaviness and showmanship, but with admission and clarity.

The opening of ‘Neurotic’ is not merely one of my favourites from What I’ll Leave Behind, but one of my favourites of the year. A heavy riff finds itself intertwined with slight technological aids; beeps and screeches weaving themselves into the natural order of the music. This very feat is something Void have mastered, creating an environment in which the two sound styles do not feel disjointed or artificial, but marry to become one of the same- each with purpose, place, and power to the story. ‘Neurotic’ opens a more sultry and enticing entry to the album, with the vocals conjuring an image of a droning Bergin, detached and tepid, caressing the mic with his lips and lungs- that kind of nonchalant but ever-insatiable image. The song only builds in tension when a feminine voice plasters a questioning tone to Bergin’s admissions, a concept of vow and declare that displays a powerful versus submissive vocal dynamic. There are so many opportunities in ‘Neurotic’ in which the band show off their ranging capabilities, and in turn, have created a song that adds so much flair to the already energetic and experimental album. It is truly a standout from their entire discography.

Standout single, ‘Gamma Knife’ follows. Acting as many listeners' first introduction to the album, and the convoluted background that followed, ‘Gamma Knife’ had a story to tell and a message to share. Quite simply, it did its job then, and it continues to do its job now. Fast-paced, the verses see Bergin almost herding over his words as he recounts and viscerally retells with a sense of jarring escapism. The song blossoms into a chorus that even still, seems a bit different for the band. It presents a completely clear vocal, leaving in the raw and expressive changes of tone and cracks. There are so many moments in this piece that allow it to endure as this introductory chapter to the story, but also as a heartfelt, necessary, and valued segment of the album.

‘Beautiful Things’ is an interesting one for me. It holds this feeling of intermission, despite not really being one. Its importance rings radiantly, but its tranquility is palpable and finds you lost in thought and reflection. It is a beautiful middle point to the album, situating the listener in a realm of hypotheticals, that through the course of this album, have actually been uncovered as questions Bergin not only had to face, but excruciatingly, almost had to answer. Despite the agonising topics at play, ‘Beautiful Things’ is a somber and relaxing moment to consume and digest, as well as understand the significance of the steps taken so far. Through both its rawness, and technical structure, it reshifts the very foundations What I’ll Leave Behind has built thus far.

Changing the tone with a chugging guitar, ‘Empty’ gets back into the grime with a self-deprecatory fleet of excessive questioning and dwindling self-worth. These sultry vocals are back, stomping around a ferocious set of wails and screams that really hone in on the brooding reality of one’s own self-image that is tainted and depreciating in front of not only their own eyes, but those closest to them. As the energy peaks, it's almost as if the instrumentals begin to malfunction, with sharp screeches and moments of complete isolation from sound directing the track with purpose and an intoxicating sense of control. There is something to be said about Jack’s skills as a frontman that sees such raw and unwavering feelings permeate to the listener, as if it is his first time releasing the beast. There is such a lack of artificiality or rather, and perhaps problematically, this feeling of a lack of closure that seeps through the songs. It is like these moments are happening in real time and we are the first to hear it. And ‘Empty’ does this strongly, making it one of my personal standouts.

‘Midnight Sweat’ follows as the eighth track of What I’ll Leave Behind. Playing with this slight tone of drum and bass, the song quickly twists into a much darker and intoxicating instrumental space. This track is powerful from start to finish, without a moment to hide away from the in-your-face screams that only rise in their rage, agony and torment. It perhaps presents Void at their heaviest within this album, and is sure to find its fans among those longing for a super heavy track!

‘Decades’ opens with this same aggression, but fluctuates within its verses to a dwindling and casual performance, that then once again rises to such a strong and affirmed vocal performance in the chorus. This track sees Jack channel through his many styles with ease, confidence, craftsmanship and prowess. It is a duality that has brought so many of these tracks to life. So too, the drums are really something that intrigued me within this track, filling moments of space with their assertive and possessive presence.

The album concludes with ‘Angel Of Darkness’, a title that is shared with Bergin’s new on-stage persona; one which may be slightly more careful, but one that is certainly no less powerful. There have been countless times this year upon listening to this track that I’ve turned to those around me and just uttered “this is such a perfect song”, and my position really does not change. Airing out this internal conflict on what one wants, versus what one can have, it is a song that on surface level, does not appear so emotional, but through each listen, seeps into your very core and really makes you feel. Bergin’s vocals within the chorus and verses are genuinely beautiful, and for me, make this song. They are stern and mature whilst still being open and vulnerable. Usually, I cause a stir when the last track has already been revealed to us as a single, but here, it just seems right. For a moment, there is this feeling of reconciliation and understanding, tracing back memories to 2023 and the very different landscape in which this song came out.

It is such a beautiful homage to who Jack once was, and an inspirational beam of light to the frontman he is becoming. As is the rest of this album.

What I’ll Leave Behind is an expressive and beautiful offering that sees experimentation and originality flourishing in the face of trauma and affliction. It is an album that sees Void Of Vision encapsulated by the words of sincerity, unpredictability, and vulnerability. Within its ten songs, What I’ll Leave Behind traces through years of the past, and bundles them into small segments of sound, littering them through new tracks as moments of memories. What surrounds these bundles, however, is mountains of rejuvenation- styles in which are completely new or have been gruellingly crafted over to create this perfect accentuation of their always flared style. With new trajectories ahead, Void Of Vision is an unstoppable force to be reckoned with- and that is the message they will leave behind for years to come.