“Through death I’ve found my flair.“
If you’re an international listener with an ear turned towards Australia’s underground, you are surely envious. The likes of Gravitate, Skorn, HORSEPOWER and Splinter are writing material that is nothing short of nails, topping many of their counterparts across the seven seas in terms of sheer brutality and force. Leading this wave for several years now has been Melbourne’s Volatile Ways, tipped by many (including Vincent Bennett of The Acacia Strain) to be one of Australia’s next top acts. They have more than shown their worth across years of material, best experienced on their chapter-closing Compendium album. The new chapter is about to enter full swing with their latest LP, Perfect Dark.
The spearhead of their new era was 2023’s single “Pink Mist Wish List“, a furious and frantic track that showcased the blunt end of Volatile Way’s sound. Chugging riff, after chugging riff from Brock King make for a shattering track, and one that perfect for Volatile Ways to take on the road and watch a crowd get dumb to. This was soon accompanied by “The Invocation of Doom“, in which the unit fully lean into their evil side, the barks of “Kill, kill, kill, kill” from Emilly before some gnarly growls which are practically unrivalled at the moment.
Before moving onto the wider album, the third single “Televised Suicide” exemplified both the strongest elements of what has become before. The journalised tale was seemingly written on instruments infused with blood; each strike from the snare, cymbal or string was a another blow as weighty to the skull. But what holds the most weight is the vocal performance, as they invited in Bec Thorwesten of Terminal Sleep. The trading of vocals adds to the track’s aminosity. Some of the vocal lows showed by Emilly are hard as nails while Thorwesten‘s barks elevate the track to another level of fury.
Intertwined within Perfect Dark are other dark tales that are equally heavy and bloody. Opener “God Will Be Cut” kicks the door down with blast bleats aplenty. It channels the beatdown-come-deathcore sound of The Acacia Strain with Volatile Way‘s own cutting edge to it. The double-kick laden breakdown will bring out the brave and the bold in a live setting, with others taking a few steps back to avoid the carnage. “Ultraviolence” offers little respite; a brief interlude filled with extended riffs that develops into one of Volatile Way‘s most charged tracks.
The seven swords of Perfect Dark’s artwork seemingly signify each tale and track on the record. “Motherless” is the one that strike deepest, diving into the story of unrequited and cold love from a parent. Lines “How can you raise when you’re holding me down?” and “I wish you’d never birthed me, I wish you’d never hurt me” are delivered with a rawness from Emilly. The closer and the title track leans further into introspection and a closing narrative, as “I can’t wait to never feel again, cause all I’ve known is this pain“, is yelled, and each riff adds to the menacing atmosphere. Both these tracks show that Volatile Ways know when to throw their real punches, with earlier tracks showing their absurdly heavy side before drawing back and allowing the lyrics and vocal performance to be at the forefront.
Perfect Dark is Volatile Ways at their best. It’s difficult to deny that several tracks, including “Televised Suicide“, “Motherless” and “God Will Be Cut“, are the New South Wales unit showing the sharpness of their blade. While simply embracing heaviness with brutal lyrics on earlier tracks, Volatile Ways show lyricism that strikes at the core later on. And as strong as Perfect Dark is, there’s also the sense that best is yet to come from Volatile Ways; perhaps it won’t be long before they’re one of Australia’s top acts.
8/10
Perfect Dark is out February 12th via Bereave In God Records, and can be pre-ordered here.