Vision of Disorder
Vision of Disorder (1996)
eatdogs
Vision of Disorder have been around a long time. It’s great
that they are still kicking it because in the years since their self-titled
debut they have never lost their uniqueness.
Released in 1996, Vision
of Disorder or V.O.D. to some, is
a prime example of mid 90’s Hardcore Punk and how the crosspollination from 90’s
Alternative music seeped through the cracks and inspired some new talented
bands to create their own spin on a sorta stale scene and bring something fresh
to the table.
This album brought newer ideas at the time with metallic chugging
riffs, unfamiliar drum patterns, a bit of a bass groove, and shouted vocals
layered over moody clean vocals. If you dig bands like Life of Agony, Earth
Crisis, Snapcase, Integrity, Helmet, and specifically the album Adrenaline by Deftones, then this should
fit your bill.
Sitting right in the middle of that certain era in Hardcore and
Metal, V.O.D.’s presence was surprising. The changing of the normal framework
of Hardcore Punk music caught people’s attention. Reviews at the time praised
the album for the direction it took, and helping establish the genre into the
mainstream. A lot of it was contributed to the band having released it on
Roadrunner Records.
To mention the music is simple really. The 12 tracks each
pound the listener with ferocious melodies and insightful, street level lyrics focused
around the lives of the band members in Long Island, NY. This album feels like it’s
coming straight from the gutters before Giuliani cleaned up the trash bags.
Perhaps in a way, it is the last gasp of that dingy, dirty NY life that evolved
through art and music in the 70’s 80’s then ended in the 90’s, eventually to be
replaced with 2000’s rock acts like The Strokes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs…
Forget that last sentence. Just listen to tracks like “Element”
for its heaviness, “Through My Eyes” for violent lyrics like “I'll pull the f*ckin' trigger watch your
head combust /Processed information makes the world go round” “Viola” for the
creative blending of genres and a hint of Deftones, “Suffer” for throwback Hardcore,
and “Gloom” because it almost sounds like the band Filter. No seriously! They
sound a bit like Filter, which is cool in way because Filter were not that bad.
Ok ok, so there you go. Here is another band
worth checking out in case you never have before. I highly recommend this. Dig
it…