ALBUM REVIEW: Negative Energy – Vexed

After roaring out of the gates with debut album Culling Culture, alt metallers VEXED were tipped for big things; some of those did materialise after a time, with support slots for IN FLAMES and SPIRITBOX’s debut UK headline shows, but there was just the slight problem of it initially releasing during the COVID lockdowns. That forced inertia might have stalled them initially, but now armed with second album Negative Energy, the band are more than capable of reigniting their momentum. 

PTSD leads, unsettling electronics and spoken word samples punctuated by stabs of drums and guitar; it becomes a churning, menacing piece with something far nastier lurking under the surface. That’s where lead single Anti-Fetish comes in as it takes that menace and unleashes a hellacious, note-bending storm. Vocalist Megan Targett shows why she’s regarded so highly as she shifts between guttural roars and piercing shrieks, making such vocal acrobatics look easy. The message of not comparing women to each other is far too common, and Anti-Fetish shows their disdain like a spiked baseball bat to the head. 

We Don’t Talk About It and X my <3 (Hope to Die) continue the vicious, brawling assault with bouncing riffs that, while not always as technical as Culling Culture, don’t eschew it entirely but deploys it far more sparingly and to greater effect. Lay Down Your Flowers features a guest appearance from Aussie metalcore bruisers ALPHA WOLF in a star turn on a song that pairs grooving heft and glitching electronics, while Targett snarls “I’ll give you something to cry about” and trades off against Lochie Keogh. He slots into the song naturally and it doesn’t feel shoehorned in any way.

Elsewhere, There’s No Place Like Home dials up its nu-metal influences by folding scratches in amongst the brutality, while Extremist is all staccato riffing and hip-hop flow to the savage vocals, and Trauma Euphoria introduces a soaring melody to its chorus. It’s testament to the band’s ability that, despite keeping up the punishing pace and atmosphere, every song clearly stands apart on its own, but even then, It’s Not The End is worlds apart, without sounding incongruous or ill-fitting. 

While many of the songs so far have been fuelled by many emotions, from rage against sexism and wrongful comparison (Anti-Fetish), to the survivor’s guilt felt by those who suffer childhood trauma and abuse (We Don’t Talk About It), It’s Not the End is heart-wrenching, a goodbye and declaration of love to a dear family member. The pain is audible, particularly in the second half where the song shifts into devastating melodic crescendo, Targett singing “It’s not the end / We’ll meet again / I don’t know where / I don’t know when”. That this doesn’t end the album given how much of an endpoint it feels is perhaps the only sticking point, but Nepotism brings back the rage one final time and is sure to ruffle more than a few feathers. 

Overall, while the band have described it as the album they made at rock bottom with nothing to lose, Negative Energy is a massive progression from Culling Culture both sonically and in terms of their songwriting craft. VEXED have poured every ounce of their sadness, anger, disappointment, grief and more into the album and it shows in a record that faces that negativity head on and exorcises it. It’s thematically negative, but the overwhelming takeaway is one of positivity; VEXED are about to come swinging for the fences in 2023, and if there’s any justice, Negative Energy will see them catapulted to the forefront of the UK’s heavy scene. 

Rating: 9/10

Negative Energy is set for release on June 23rd via Napalm Records.

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