Search - Faith, Void :: Split CD

The Greatness of V.O.I.D.; a Guitarist's Perspective

01/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I just want to talk about V.O.I.D. (actually, I'll talk about the Faith below). No, I never saw them perform, nor have I met anyone in the band. But I am an experienced guitar player who has owned this release since I tried to buy the Teen Idles first 7 inch, but was sent the Faith/V.O.I.D. release instead (they were out of the Teen Idles!). How very fortunate for me!
The more I listen to V.O.I.D., the more I realize that these four musicians not only touched brilliance, they were steeped in it. V.O.I.D. embodies the abandon and understanding of the true power of various barre chords played through an amp at the breaking point of crackling distortion overload. They eschewed the (so very cool) buzz tone chainsaw guitar sound that many of the D.C bands craved for one of more pure molten abandon. In fact, Bubba Dupree, their guitarist, had the gain/distortion set so high into the stratosphere that any time he stopped playing and paused, the guitar fed back like a screaming banshee. No other band, except for perhaps Flipper or Black Flag, has ever harvested such out of control guitar tones and transformed them into such pure musical power.
The coolest thing about Bubba Dupree's tone was that it was at once simple and direct, yet unconventional. He saturated his driving distortion with heavy flanging without detracting from the guitar's attack and roar. He just played his amps flat out, and wrung out guitar tones that are two inches from your eyeballs.
I love this V.O.I.D. release because it really shows you that its not only 'talent' that creates masterpieces of this purity, but it is the harnessing and unleashing of the VISION that propelled them at the moments they wrote this material and recorded the songs.
I wish I had seen this band live at some point. It would have been my epiphany to see them rage on a stage, wringing notes out of the instruments at hand, guitar feedback screaming through every song break...a touch with purity.
Black Flag was like that too. Both bands shared that dedication to the artistic vision of just how hard you could push the envelope while making the best music possible at the same time.
With every listen to this recording, I gain more respect for the musicianship and artistry of the band members. Sure, they were not playing like Eddie Van Halen. But that was part of the point. They played one eighth the notes of some shredder, but made music 8 times better (and 4 times faster!). Yet, they were not minimalists..they were maximalists!
The only other band of this time period that reached these levels of agression (in my opinion) was perhaps the Los Angeles-based Stains (another supra fantastic band).
Yes, its true...I am infatuated with this band and their sound.
Listening to this band makes me want to go beserk! Bubba's playing is so full and right to the point. The vocalist is nothing but honest..and that is everything. The bass and drums thunder through the sets like a stampede of elephants running for their lives.
The band is darkly cast in ideas. 'Face the darkness! Stare this world in the face! Like the first cut, "I come to you with all my problems/ But you don't care you won't be bothered/ SO WHO ARE YOU AND WHY AM I HERE?!??WHO ARE YOU AND WHY AM I HERE!?!?
THe Faith side is actually very good too. They really show you how to make one and a half minutes of hardcore mania work! The Faith's tone is almost the opposite of V.O.I.D.'s; not more quiet, just more exact and controlled, but aggressive as you can get. I've never heard guitars buzz like this Faith release!
The V.O.I.D. side was unexpected and unfamiliar. Much darker, songs on the edge of panic, control being lost...and then found, delivering a new fresh sound, unheard of, unique, yet with its roots firmly in the soils of the music communities of such settings...but pushing the envelope with a deeply personal vision.
Bubba Dupree has become one of my favorite guitar players. Not just his fantastic tonal abilities and complexities in the super overdrive/distortion realms, but also his technique. He new when and how to play sloppy and make it work. How many guitarists can really do that effectively? But he also new how to make a guitar scream. Bubba, I am in your debt for greatly expanding my playing and my views of what was possible in punk rock and all music. I have never heard anyone go quite over the top like he did on this release.
I highly recommend this release to all fans of punk, hardcore punk, and punk/metal hybrids (not that these labels/categories can capture what V.O.I.D. sounded like). You'll get two great bands in one package. It's a godsend that Dischord put these two different sounding bands on the same release. Visionary!
Also of note: The famous Dischord release "Flex Your Head" also has three cuts by V.O.I.D. I HIGHLY recommend these three songs if you like this band, as they are my favorites. For me, they are the highlight of the release.
I guess this review would best serve a real fan of hard, driving, out of control, focused, contradictory music, i.e. the average punk rock accolyte.
If I were to form a mythical bill for a fantastic concert featuring bands compatible and/or like-minded musically, I might include Black Flag (before their "My War" period...no offense!), the Stains, and perhaps the Germs (if we could get Darby to sing into the mic!).
Bubba Dupree rips! Sincerely, Nightcrawler......"

Faith - OK / Void - Godlike!!!

Ernesto Catalan Valdez | Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexico | 05/29/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I heard this back in the day...FAITH were your standard, DC hardcore band: fast, loud but melodic. If FAITH existed today they would probably sound very close to something like PENNYWISE. But this was FAITH's undoing: sounding too good, too clean, too proper. Don't get me wrong; FAITH were a very good hardcore band...it just didn't move me as much as VOID, the band who shares this CD with FAITH. VOID, like other reviewers have said, were pure, unbridled chaos, that differed drastically with FAITH's "correctly produced" sound. The singer sounded like he was REALLY pissed off, ripping his vocal chords in such a vicious way that reminded me of Ian Mac Kaye (Minor Threat) or Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü) and the guitar mayhem of Bubba Dupree sounded like some very twisted version of grunge rock played 10 times faster. What I'm trying to say here is that the sound that VOID offer, despite being "less" clean than FAITH's, really caught my ear and my heart and to this day, if I were to purchase this album again, it would be solely because of VOID. If you like chaotic hardcore from the 80's, you'll do no wrong in checking out this FAITH/VOID CD. Play it Loud!!!"

I disagree with everyone

jin | this world is not my home | 02/09/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"unlike everyone above..i thought the faith side of the album was much better....void are technically a great band and i can understand why peole are raving about them,but its just to noisy,too chaotic,too sonic...too extreme for extremes sake..unlistenable.

Man theirs enough noise down the pit...!!

At the time the sheer inensity of void would have scared anyone..but the faith side is just minimalist,raw basic production punk rock...great to skate to....has that teenage feel to it..."