EP REVIEW: Chronicles I: Lust EP – Void Of Vision

Hot on the heels of their remixed and reworked Hyperdaze (Redux) album, Aussie metalcore crew VOID OF VISION have wasted no time in making their return with the surprise release of Chronicles I: Lust EP. With just four tracks, this one’s a short and slight record whose heightened violence more than makes up for its tight 11-minute runtime. It’s not a huge departure from their typical nu-metalcore fare, but makes for a solid stop-gap release all the same.

While VOID OF VISION deal almost exclusively in bristling aggro on Chronicles I, they do find time for an intro track of sorts in Ohne Sicht. Admittedly, even this is pretty heavy, its throbbing electronics giving way to punchy metalcore crush. Three more violent and visceral tracks follow, each seemingly intent on outraging the other. All three boast tonnes of bounce and swagger, and there’s a heavy industrial and nu-metal influence running throughout. As with most of the band’s output, it certainly feels like the focus here is on sonic maximalism. For the most part, they accentuate their already crushing sound with layers of synths and textures. Granted, this makes them sound massive, but with everything in the red all the time there is perhaps a risk that the details can get a little buried over the course of the record.

Pacing back and forth in front of the band’s rabid metalcore attack is their absolutely furious frontman Jack Bergin. His performance is consistently tortured and angst-laden, finding little to no light at the end of the tunnel. On second track Gothika he sets his sights on self-destruction, asking “Is this really the master plan?/Is this all that I am?”. Elsewhere, on The Lonely People, he touches unflinchingly on his own mental health throughout the hellscape that was 2020. It’s bleak stuff, with Bergin repeatedly exhorting his listeners to put him out of his misery. At the same time though, there is perhaps something cathartic and relatable in witnessing such an honest expression of pain – a reminder of sorts that we aren’t as alone in our struggles as we might think.

This record is probably too punishing to call it short and sweet, but the term certainly applies in a way. Chronicles I seems to end before it’s even really begun, but while it’s on there’s not much to complain about. It passes quickly – a flurry of riffs, breakdowns and rage galore. VOID OF VISION don’t show much interest in dynamics or slowing things down here, but that doesn’t really matter with a record this short. Crucially, it seems likely that the I in its title hints at a sequel. If that’s the case, and you like your metalcore crisp, crushing and turned up to 11, then this EP leaves plenty to get excited about.

Rating: 7/10

Chronicles I: Lust EP is out now via UNFD.

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