Review Summary: Seventh Void's Heaven Is Gone album is a must listen for fans of doom metal, grunge and rock and roll in general. While not being the most original band out there, this album contains lots of worthwhile material for doom metal and hard rock fans alike.
Seventh Void is a band not a lot of people know. I'm not sure of the reason for this. Maybe it's due to little promotion. Perhaps it's due to two of the members Kenny Hickey and Johnny Kelly's much bigger project Type O Negative overshadowing this band. Or maybe we'll never really know. Regardless of the reasons, when I seen this didn't have a proper review, I thought I would take the time to give this band and this album the recognition it rightfully deserves. Musically, despite being a doom outfit, this project leans more on the grunge side of things, despite the band member's association with acts like Type O Negative and A Pale Horse Named Death. In the lyric department, doom and gloom is the name of the game here. Lyrics about drugs, doom, darkness, and hopelessness are the main topics of focus to be found here.
Seventh Void is a doom metal band from Brooklyn New York composed of members of different bands, two of the former mentioned members being a part of Type O Negative and Matt Brown and Hank Hell being a part of some lesser known projects of their own. The band could be described as a side project. The band's sound contains many different influences scattered throughout including bands such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden, and Alice In Chains. Despite being categorized as a doom metal outfit, there are also strong grunge and classic rock influences scattered throughout, making the band's sound more varied and interesting. The album starts with a bang with the opener "Closing In" bringing an onslaught of heavy, down tuned riffs and a catchy chorus with infectious grooves. Kenny's vocals could be described as having a strong Chris Cornell vibe, particularly in the next track "Heaven Is Gone", my personal favorite on the album. The song starts out with a wall of strong and heavy grooves over Kenny's powerful vocals, without ever letting go of the power through the entire track. Slower, finger picked cords later ensue and a classic rock influenced solo breaks out leading back into the powerful verse and closing chorus, making for an excellent track.
The album continues without losing any momentum. The next track "The End Of All Time" is full of strong Sabbath influenced riffs and an onslaught of doom metal bliss. Another highlight of the album "Killing You Slow" starts off with some heavy mid paced riffs throughout the verses, then to a doomy chorus, then back to the mid paced verses and a doom-laden refrain making for one of the catchiest and heaviest tracks on the album. The next three tracks continue in much of the same fashion, the same influences being prevalent throughout it's course. The closing two tracks pick up the momentum with the next track "Death Of A Junkie" being a sure highlight. The song starts off with Kenny singing as if he were on a drug trip, singing about, as the title would suggest, the death of a junkie. The song then continues with a barrage of slow and sludgy riffs, bringing an Alice In Chains kind of vibe, with the last track "Last Walk In The Light", being the most alternative rock influenced song and features some of the strongest hooks on the album.
