ALBUM REVIEW: What I’ll Leave Behind – Void Of Vision
VOID OF VISION‘s music has always been something they could become. In a fully realised and highly conceptual way, when the band makes art, it becomes their identity. As one of the most kerosine-fuelled metalcore artists to come out of Australia, their sound has always been something they liked to push to the limit, with bands like PENDULUM and THE PRODIGY becoming as much a part of their influence as PARKWAY DRIVE.
For vocalist Jack Bergin, the manifestation of their new record What I’ll Leave Behind comes with – for the first time publicly- a realisation that there are limits to touring, making music and balancing life alongside managing his health. Early in 2022, Bergin had a seizure that almost resulted in him biting off his tongue in the process. Whilst he continued ahead with all his commitments, he began to take on a more private and disconnected persona to manage his health and provide justification for his absence outside of playing shows. This became the early conceptualisation for the album, a human vessel hostaged by an ambiguous celestial being.
This persona, the Angel Of Darkness, overshadows the album as a manifestation of sacrifice as the domineering last track on the album. As the first single released, the track is enlightening and danceable but also runs deep with sentimentality, emulating the rise of europop and ELECTRIC CALLBOY over the past year or so. The direction of this album leans into soft sci-fi synths that uplift the intensity of the cutthroat guitars and Bergin’s piercing vocals – an infusion that has evolved from their experimental odyssey into electronic music from Chronicles, which was originally released as three completely polarising EPs.
The album challenges how Bergin The Human and Bergin The Artist coexist in a state of emotional and medical conflict. One of the most damaging realities that contributed to What I’ll Leave Behind’s creation was an AVM rupture in his brain that left him unable to continue with VOID OF VISION whilst he was hospitalised. Gamma Knife – a treatment that gives a high dose of radiation to small localised areas – takes precedence in a single of the same name. With their iconic dance buildup into a soaring metalcore chorus, the song builds up into a highly energetic spoken word breakdown. Neurotic, a track slower in pace but still just as potent, picks apart the concept of the corporeal with a ruthless baseline.
Even still, VOID OF VISION still like to toy with the idea of the extreme, especially through their volatile opener Oblivion. An impassioned release of rage, the track harnesses their earlier intense sound. Leading into Blood For Blood, a damagingly chaotic standout, this sets the tone for the record as something that completely redefines VOID OF VISION’s evolution. Accompanying their raw black and white visuals, this track proves how the band present themselves is key to this new transformation, with Bergin and co adorning more ambitious clothing, ‘black lipstick’ leaning into a more cyberpunk and horror-defined aesthetic. Supernova, a palette cleanser for the band’s bloodshed, comes at the price of a cathartic and seemingly conscious exploration of Bergin’s identity.
Later on, the album presents an identifiably human trio of tracks in Empty, Midnight Sweat and Decades. Putting mental health at the forefront of the song’s lyrics, they are raw, cut deeper and feel more real, anchoring the album. This is where guitarists Mitch Farlie and James McKendrick really shine in the chaos. These are the most honest tracks on the record.
In the darkness enveloping the creation of What I’ll Leave Behind, VOID OF VISION have created an emotionally stunning insight into Bergin’s pain and turmoil over the last two years. Something that – as far as the listener is aware – is a vein that has not been tapped nearly as much by the Aussie metalcore outfit. Where their music has evolved into a highly conceptualised reality, there are moments of reflection that give the album truly meaningful resonance. This record is testament to excruciatingly hard work and damagingly real defiance – a triumph.
Rating: 9/10
What I’ll Leave Behind is out now via UNFD.
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