From Bliss to Resuscitation

So in the interest of actually keeping in with the title of the blog I have decided to dig into the archives and shine the spotlight on one of my favourite bands from the New York Hardcore scene, Vision of Disorder.
Next month sees the release of their first album for over a decade with Septembers 'The Cursed Remain Cursed'.

Despite being one of the most innovative and boundary pushing of their peers VOD have spent the large majority of the noughties on hiatus or far more accurately, defunct.

Starting life in 1995 and heavily influenced by the hardcore scene as well as other wide ranging musical influences that made their own sound far from run of the mill, the band became an integral part of the furniture recording the Still ep that established them as one of the top acts along side 25 Ta Life, Crown of Thornz, Madball and H20.
If you can track it down find the documentary N.Y.H.C about the scene (it is on You Tube if you can be fagged to sit through it in 10 ten minute parts) which details the sense of community, address the notion of violence and of course talks about the lives of those involved.



The Still ep was a great success and eventually the band came to the attention of the growing Roadrunner Label who release their full length debut in 1996 and remain fondly remembered by hardcore purists.



Coming two years later the sophomore album Imprint saw the band moving in a more metal influenced direction, even including Pantera's motormouth vocalist guesting on the hugely punishing By The River. However despite the fact that this album has stood the test of time and is a crushing mixture of hardcore and metal there were rumblings amongst the older fans of the band that they were taking the easy route and going for a commercial sound (if you have heard Imprint you'll know this is cobblers) by heading towards metal and were incredibly critical of the raw sounding production.
The raw production issue of this record was due to the fact that Roadrunner had only given them two weeks to record the album. This perceived lack of support saw the two parties relationship break down irreconcilably and subsequently the band left the label.



As a stop gap and a way of raising the public's awareness of the band after a difficult period they recorded a stop gap album For The Bleeders. This was essentially a better take on a collection of demo songs. The album was released in 1999 on Go Kart Records.

Finding anew home on TVT Records VOD took their evolving sound and welded Southern Rock influences and grunge stylings (notably Alice In Chains) to their uncompromising sound for 2001s From Bliss To Devastation.




It is fair to say that this album is perceived as a commercial flop. If the fans reaction to Imprint was less than flattering then the reviews for FBTD were down right savage.
Personally this is my favourite release by the band, a seriously cool blend of aggression and melody with off kilter sounds and great vocal turns by Tim Williams but with the band unhappy with TVTs lack of support the band collapsed into hiatus in 2002.

In the time they have been away it has seemed a VOD shaped gap has been gaping in the hardcore and metal scenes, particularly hardcore whose lack of variation has often cost my affections.

In the interim vocalist Williams and Guitarist Kennedy formed the metalcore band Bloodsimple who released two pretty good albums if ever you have the time to check them out.

From about 2006 events conspired to allow the band to stage a three song reunion during a Bloodsimple show and the response was ecstatic and paved the way for a full reunion show later that year.

In 2008 after a string of shows it was announced via the TMZ of metal (Blabbermouth) that Vision of Disorder had reunited and intended to record a new album.

And so time marched on… For those of us who paid interest to this reunion, it has seemed like forever as the album released was pushed back repeatedly.
In March 2010 Williams announced that the band were taking a short break having written 19 songs for contention and were hoping to to pair this selection down to 11 tracks.

Left in limbo it seemed to fans like myself that despite seeing a number of higher profile bands reunite for a seeming comeback only to be disappointed by them milking the lucrative summer festival circuit playing greatest hits with no intention of getting back to the chemistry of the studio, that at least VOD were putting the musical creativity ahead of ticket sales (unlike the recent smash and grab of At The Drive-In).

Finally, last year Internet single The Enemy was unveiled to the world. Chock full of breakdowns, fast drumming and dripping with melodic choruses. it was a rollarcoaster that hinted at great times to come for old and new fans of the band.
This year the Internet premiered 'Loveless' confirmed that the band were back with a bang. Streamed on lambgoat.com the track is a punch in the face to their detractors that would suggest that the years away from the band have reignited the fire and the rage that drove them in the early nineties yet balanced with the maturity of age.




With the album only a little less than a month away the only bittersweet aspect comes with the fact that the site I write reviews for (The Sleeping Shaman) was sent this for review by new home Candlelight but is not musically eligible and my erstwhile boss has heard it (and didn't like it) and won't let me have the copy!
(I am kidding Lee. Sort of.)

Still this is a small quibble. I have no idea how Vision of Disorder will fare in a landscape that owes much their influence and impact on the genre all these years later, but it is fantastic to know that they are back and this is one of the most highly anticipated releases of the year in my household.

A genuine welcome back boys, I have missed you.
And appear to have penned an article without a single swear word in.
Fuck.
Oh.