Review Summary: It’s apparent that Call Of The Void have written an album that will cling to fans of crust, d-beat, and hardcore like a symbiote to its host. A crushing, unforgiving album that offers little room for rest and more time for causing a ruckus.
When it comes to metal, hardcore, punk-rock, and the like, there’s never a shortage of angst to be expressed. Some bands do it with gusto, while others just come off sort of gimmicky. For Colorado fiends, Call Of The Void, they present themselves in a manner that would have your parents questioning your listening habits. Their debut album Dragged Down A Dead End Path, which is being released via Relapse Records, is a culmination of crust, punk, grind, and powerviolence – which when combined, offer up twenty-five minutes of relentless riffs, pounding drums, and ill-tempered screams and shouts that are sure to turn your scowl upside down…or better yet, embed it deeper into your face.
Dragged Down A Dead End Path offers little in way of relaxation, as the only breather this album gives you happens in the first forty-eight seconds of “Failure” – after that you’re on your own. The one-two punch of speed and intensity is quickly met, as the song just explodes in an abundance of ferocity, which take the form of riffs, sporadic cymbal hits and blast beats. The vocals of Steve Vanica, which are akin to the punk-rock/hardcore sensibilities, are presented in a crushing and forceful manner. The rage continues on, as “Theory of Mind” is an absolute overkill to the ears, which are still recovering from the previous track’s thrashing – but no matter how crushing the music becomes, there are moments where the band cut back a bit with their relentless nature to include sections which are more mid-tempo in approach.
“Bottom Feeder”, for example, offers up a nice change of pace by throwing in a sludge-induced breakdown that interjects the aforementioned speed, while also inducing an urge to bang your head. Hell, the entire latter half of the album has a more stomp worthy pace to it, with “Breeding Grounds” easily taking the crown for heaviest track on the album, with a nice stop-and-go exchange of deep chugs and drum hits to match. “I Hope You Two ***” is drenched in enough maniacal riffs and dissonance, at points it resembles that of a GAZA song. As for the album’s closer, we are treated to the absolute crusher of a tune: “Faith & Filth”, where speed takes the forefront for the first half and midway through it breaks down into a cruel exchange of hammered chords, galloping drum work, and maniacal screams – all culminating into a spastic mesh of grind-induced proportions.
After a few tracks in, it’s apparent that Call Of The Void have written an album that will cling to fans of crust, d-beat, and hardcore like a symbiote to its host. A crushing, unforgiving album that offers little room for rest and more time for causing a ruckus. Although it’s being released through a popular label (in terms of heavy music), the album gives off a DIY aesthetic of production, with dirty sounding tracks and an overall focus on being raw in approach. In short, Dragged Down A Dead End Path is a wet dream for the underground scene, and while may some find the album to be a bit repetitive in nature, its charm lies in the bands delivery – where raw and unbridled restraint is felt in each track – and that, folks, is what adds to the albums overall appeal and replay-ability.
