Review: Voidgazer ‘Dance of the Undesirables’

Hailing from St Louis, Missouri brutal sludge metal act Voidgazer have the statement on their Facebook page that reads, ‘We are Voidgazer, and we play heavy metal.’ Simple, effective and damn right they do. Formed in 2016 the savage four piece unleashed the three track Years Of Exile EP, a nasty, short, powerful bludgeon of bile driven sludge that showcased a penchant for delivering brutal metal with an intelligent sense of power and song writing dexterity that was best represented by the towering, unrelenting title track.

Voidgazer ‘Dance of the Undesirables’

Back now in 2021 with their second independent release, Dance Of The Undesirables, Voidgazer bring five more tracks that collide sonic dissidence into a muddy blues sensibility, delivering hook laden riffs and a bad attitude.

Jesus Take The Needle is designed not only to offend the purists, but arrest your attention from the urgent, searching opening notes. The track explodes into a guttural dance of madness, propelled by the juxtaposing roar and blackened screams. This vocal variation not only matches the changing tempo but adds depth and flavour making it a highly charged energetic affair that you could easily picture yourself flailing around a pit to.

The second half is a never settling, constantly shifting experience of nutty blast beats, churning riffs and spat venom. It’s a six-minute joyride through hell in the Devil’s stolen Buick. What this doesn’t overtly showcase is the catchy, classic rock stylings that get thrown in, meaning that one minute you’re screaming until the veins pop in your temples and then shaking your ass to a rock and roll boogie.

Expectation Management starts out like an honest to goodness classic rock track where you could picture the band rocking out on stage, legs akimbo and hair swinging, before being dragged off to play the seediest strip club in the underworld. This feels like the kind of track the house band in From Dusk Till Dawn would churn out after the sun went down. Surprisedly melodic, the rawness of the band can’t disguise their ability to pen a tune that, in another life, could be a huge pop hit. Coupled with a fretboard shredding lead guitar you would have to be dead, rather than undead, not to feel what the band are offering.

constantly shifting experience of nutty blast beats, churning riffs and spat venom…

The title heads into epic territory at breakneck speed where the band combine Motörhead style speed riffing with trad metal heroic soloing over relentless drumming. Just when you think that they’re building for a slow moment of light and shade, they go almost full Psalm 69 era Ministry before finally lapsing into a jazz like solo piece, which itself collapses into a classic Pantera style breakdown. There are times when it feels like so much is going on your senses are slipping into overload, but the band find a groove to pull you back from the brink.

Voidgazer really do throw a total melting pot of styles into the mix on their new album, drawing from, but never settling on anything from a huge range of influences, which on the surface could feel overwhelming but somehow they pull it off with great skill. Blast Equaliser literally feels like it could have been written by three separate bands and yet somehow they combine the brutal assault of jazz, blues and rock and roll on steroids into something that not only draws you in, but belies the initial raw presentation.

Final offering Sexual Sadist Serial Slasher is probably more Exhumed than Entombed and for me was possibly the least satisfying of the tracks, which was a shame as it ended the album on a slight down note, but that shouldn’t put you off seeking out Dance Of The Undesirables as, at times, it’s fucking nuts and deserves to be heard.

The band have clearly progressed from their first EP and the sludgy fuzz of the production is perfect for the aesthetic they’re going for, even down to the almost eighties thrash tribute artwork that adorns the cover. It might not top my album of the year list, but I guarantee that someone out there is going to fucking love this.

Label: Independent
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram

Scribed by: Mark Hunt-Bryden