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…