“Praising the sun as the fire burns our skin.”
It is always a pleasure to discover small, talented bands and know that they will only get better down the line, given the opportunity. Revoid is one such band. Need I say more than the two words ‘Australian Metalcore’? Mastered by Kris Crummett (Dance Gavin Dance, Sleeping With Sirens, Hail the Sun), the Brisbane outfit’s debut EP, Sleepless Still, gives a taste of the band’s influences and direction, and leaves you wanting more. It is by no means a perfect record, nor does it truly introduce anything new to the ambient metalcore space, but is littered with riffs, breakdowns, and some very powerful vocals on both the clean and unclean front. This, all while presenting some powerful and personal lyricism.
“Ruminate” opens with the ambient guitar that characterises the EP. Though the song does end on a heavy-ish note with the introductory lead coming full circle, the build-up after the first breakdown teases massively yet dissipates by transitioning back into the chorus, losing all momentum the song had amassed to that point. Truthfully, it goes nowhere, and for that reason is, in my opinion, the weakest track on the record. Still a suitable opener which eases one into Revoid‘s sound and shows the individual skill of each member, but they have demonstrated they can do better. The rest of the tracklist seems to add something new with every track.
“Ghost” dives right in with some frenetic drumming, before the guitars sidle in and provide some sweet groove. Where that groove is snuffed out, the drop-off into the first clean section sounds forced. The softer sections of the song fall flat for me: though emotive, the instrumentation behind them is a tad uninspired compared to other places on the record. Fortunately, the song packs a punch on its heavier side, overflowing with breakdowns, and yet gives ample room for the melodic sections to breathe despite its short runtime. Panning synths are a feast for the ears, with prominent drums keeping time. Every member of the band is given a chance to shine. Lows at the end wrap it up excellently, with lead vocalist Dale Dudeson screaming ‘SAY MY NAME!’ to close out the song with a bang. “Ghost” largely improves on all aspects of the first track, and the EP only gets better from here.
“Poison Saint” picks up right where “Ghost” left off. If “Ghost” is an aggressive response to narcissicm, then this centremost cut is a harder-hitting and more universal ‘fuck you’ anthem facilitated by some chunky riffage and breakneck percussion. Sleepless Still as a whole boasts a number of memorable pre-breakdown callouts to make Alpha Wolf proud, but none give me that satisfied ‘oof’ more so than, ‘I hope the demons you’ve been feeding come and bury you‘. Pulling virtually any lyric epitomises the pure anger dripping from Dale throughout this track.
Listen here you parasite, I’ve got a couple things to say.
Sit down, shut up, and listen. How can you exist this way?
You co-dependent cancer, feeding ’til there’s nothing left.
You take advantage of the best in us, and now we all wish you were fucking dead.
Belated single “Noise In My Head” is a wonderful change of pace. Overall the softest track on the album, it’s bolstered by superb melodies and suffers none of the transitional sloppiness demonstrated by the first two tracks. It is a welcome confirmation that Revoid can write melodic sections as capably as aggressive ones, and it is the unification of the two that just needs some tweaking. The pretty guitar solo/lead midway through is one of the highlights of the record. Softer tones are accompanied by a more sombre and introspective mood, with Dale singing, ‘As the rain pours down, over everything I think about. And nothing’s going right. I can’t hear myself, the noise in my head is way too loud. I think I’m losing my mind.’ This rounds out the track and transitions into “Gloomsayer“, where the frenetic and lambasting nature of the previous two tracks is resumed.
“Gloomsayer” closes out Sleepless Still. The track that got me interested in Revoid, with its chorus evoking Holy Hell-era Architects vibes and the passionate uncleans belted out. It still stands up as one of the best tracks on offer here. Repeat allusions to fire in the lyrics and the fire imagery prevalent in the music video are apt representations for this roaring track that caps off the EP. The metaphor of rain is picked up once again, echoing “Noise In My Head“, with the final, extended chorus home to some of my favourite lines:
Holy ghost, you can’t save my soul
(I can’t outrun the rain forever, I can’t outrun the rain forever).
The roses bloom, but you will never know
(Faith doesn’t make this better, I can’t outrun the rain forever).
You sing of saviours like sorrow does not exist,
Praising the sun as the fire burns our skin.
Holy ghost, I am a Gloomsayer,
And I will be this way forever.
Sleepless Still speaks to the band’s talent, yet small structural details here and there show that they still have much room to grow. There are a host of standout mosh-calls but also moments of real heartfelt discourse about mental health. As the title of the album implies, the ramifications of anxiety on the mind and rest is a recurring motif. ‘I am awake but at what cost?’ Dale screams into the void on the opening track. Revoid have executed their sound ably but are operating within a very saturated space, and so would do well to expand on their sound with future releases if they are to enshrine their name up there with the best. Dale‘s cleans are excellent (so it is understandable why the band would want to include them throughout) but often feel shoehorned in, which leads to some jarring transitions and sacrifices the momentum of the songs. They shine brightest on “Noise In My Head” for that reason, where the song is structured around them and allows them to breathe. For that reason, Sleepless Still‘s heavier moments are what keep me coming back, but who knows what the future will hold? Fans of Rogue, Inertia, Polaris, and Architects would do well to give it a chance.
Sleepless Still is set for independent release this Friday, April 29th, and you can pre-order it here.
7/10