ALBUM REVIEW: Call Of The Void – Nita Strauss

There are a few tried and tested paths for a guitarist making a solo album. Do you go full-on instrumental, letting your guitar do the talking but potentially limiting the overall audience of your record? Or do you find a guest singer (or several) and write some more “traditional” songs, where guitars understandably take a little bit more of a backseat? This isn’t NITA STRAUSS’ first rodeo and, having done the instrumental-only approach on her debut Controlled Chaos, the guitar tour-de-force returns arm-in-arm with a cavalcade of impressive rock and metal vocalists for Call Of The Void.

That’s of course, not to say Strauss abandons instrumentals on Call Of The Void – what a waste that would be for a guitarist like her. The album boldly opens with the vocal-less Summer Storm. A mission statement for Strauss that sees furious modern metal rhythms counterpointed by shred leads, it feels like the bridge between Shrapnel Records’ hey-day and ANIMALS AS LEADERS. Poking through the rhythmic intensity is a strong sense of melody and layered harmonies, with Summer Storm acting as a microcosm of Strauss’ own style and voice and giving her just enough limelight before the first of our guests joins the stage.

Fronting the fiery The Wolf You Feed is ARCH ENEMY’s Alissa White-Gluz. Replete with melodeath styled verses, the song’s fury slows its pace for an unexpectedly catchy clean chorus – all accentuated by White-Gluz’s vocal versatility. Strauss backs things up with crunchy riffs and regal leads throughout that occasionally bring to mind the wailing melodicism of Michael Amott, before tearing into a distinctively Strauss solo. On Digital Bullets, Strauss adds in a smattering of electronica and synths above a bed of synced-up kick drums and staccato riffs – the perfect atmosphere to make vocalist Chris Motionless feel right at home. Indeed, there’s a slight whiff of MOTIOLESS IN WHITE to the whole thing once the breakdown kicks in. But the big melodic hit of the swooping chorus is all Strauss – not to mention another deft solo.

Another song and another change of pace with Through The Noise, as Strauss moves towards a modern stadium rock sound complete with giant crowd claps and singalong ‘hey-yeahs’. Fitting the mould perfectly is Lzzy Hale, who’s no stranger to a rock anthem. As enjoyable as the song is, it’s hard not for it to feel like a more metal-informed version of HALESTORM. We later on visit one of the album’s earliest pre-release tracks, the groove-laden Dead Inside. With frenetic, twisting riffs and leads, the track is both disquieting and infectious. But with David Draiman taking the mic, the DISTURBED comparisons are almost inevitable.

One of the trickiest things about Call Of The Void is that, as it continues to push on, it starts to almost feel like a metal compilation. There’s no criticism about the choices Strauss has made for guest singers; they’re diverse and strong performers. But many of them are so idiosyncratic or closely tied to their band, it becomes difficult not to think of their own material when hearing them. Moreover, Strauss is – quite fairly – trying on different creative approaches with each singer. And while certainly a great exercise in songwriting, it also means that tracks start to feel like a pastiche of their guest’s “home” band. Worse yet, Strauss’ own creative identity sometimes gets buried in the process.

All that said, when it works, Strauss creates some real magic. The Golden Trail is one of the album’s highest points, bringing in IN FLAMES legend Anders Fridén to deliver a love letter to 90s melodeath. Strauss manages to recapture some of that old school Gothernburg intensity, channelling Jesper Strömblad in her rising melodic leads, while still defiantly putting her own stamp on the music with a big, rousing chorus. Of all the vocal tracks, the only real misstep is the baffling Winner Takes All. Again visiting the modern stadium rock stylings of earlier songs, Winner Takes All feels somewhat toothless. Worse yet, its choice of vocalist feels incongruent. The song features living royalty Alice Cooper, but doesn’t play to his vocal strengths at all – instead, Cooper’s voice seems to be buried in so much post-production, you wouldn’t be able to tell it was him unprompted.

Peppered throughout Call Of The Void are a handful of instrumental tracks that pick up where Controlled Chaos left off, two of which are absolute album highlights. Consume The Fire is another great articulation of Strauss’ virtuosic voice; intensely melodic, sometimes sinister, often rippingly heavy and regularly indulging in neoclassical influences, Strauss’ playing is like a melting pot of the last 40 years of rock guitar. For closing track Kintsugi, Strauss slows things down completely for a pared back, ballad-inspired guitar lead. Slow, contemplative and oddly wistful, Kintsugi wouldn’t feel out of place on MARTY FRIEDMAN’s Scenes record. And speaking of which, guess who guests on bonus track Surfacing? It’s a shame the Friedman and Strauss guitar duel didn’t make the album cut proper.

If Controlled Chaos was NITA STRAUSS proving that she can run with the top dogs of guitar, then Call Of The Void is her statement that she can write great songs too. And fundamentally, there’s a lot of great material across this album, even if it does feel like it has multiple personalities at certain points. As a result, taken as a whole, it can sometimes feel uneven and, worse yet, Strauss’ own voice can feel a little hidden. But stick with Call Of The Void and you’ll find some exciting, hard-edged rock with some of the best guitar playing you’ll hear this year.

Rating: 7/10

Call Of The Void is set for release on July 7th via Sumerian Records.

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