In an age where pop music is just the same old shit churned out time and time again, with lyrics continuing to be the same vapid excuse for sentiment, even the alternative scene has started to become emotionally wretched. But then along comes ‘No Angels’, an album which is nothing if not emotional.
Right from the slightly creepy opening track ‘Foreward’, it’s clear that Voices are truly connected to their music. Follow up ‘Nausea’ completely subverts the previous image of Voices – it’s an astonishingly heavy wall of modern hardcore noise, punctuated with furious breakdowns. It’s heavy but at the same time very dancable
Admittedly, the clean vocal on the record may not be the most melodic or best sounding you’ll ever hear, but it does fit in with the music as a whole. The only other criticism here would be that the vocals are far too quiet on the recording – especially on the clean vocal passages – so they get a bit overpowered by the guitars.
‘Illusions’ is slightly more melodic. The riffs are still crushing, and the large clean guitar break slowly builds into a dirty great stoner rock-esque interlude. On the other hand, ‘Memory Lane’ is full of nasty hardcore rhythms, though there is something reminiscent of TRC in the spoken word “Take me down to memory lane”.
‘Eyes’ is a little repetitive. The chorus is pretty bouncy but there’s little variation through most of the song. ‘Something Meaningful’, on the other hand, is a prime example of the emotion that this band bring forward. It may not be as heavy as the rest of the tracks on display, but it’s an excellent melodic hardcore song that’s full of heartfelt vocals, with slower but equally powerful instrumental lines.
‘The Lights’ is a return to the bouncy hardcore, but it arrives with an occasional – almost pop punk – clean vocal line thrown in. In all honesty, the next track ‘Never Better’ is a bit of a mess. The main riff is so discordant it makes your ears want to crawl off your face, but thankfully the last half of the track is a huge shout-along, so it redeems itself by the end.
Final two tracks ‘And Then There Were None’ and ‘End Credits’ are both roller-coasters of melody and rage, and a fine way to close off the album.
All in all, it’s a very solid album. The vocals coming forward in the mix a bit more would have really benefited the band, but with follow up album ‘Sleepers & Dreamers’ currently in the pipeline, Voices are certainly a band you should be checking out sooner rather than later.
ANDY LEDDINGTON