The demonstration. That initial collection of tunes designed
to circulate at shows in an attempt to garner fans, handed out for the
enjoyment of friends or distributed to labels in hopes of landing a record deal
is something of an anomaly in the metal world. Metal, unlike any other music
genre, reveres that initial release commonly referred to as a demo. In this age
of the internet bands have instantaneous wide distribution for their demos, but
it’s up to the fans to pass the final judgment and bands carry the burden of
proving themselves with their first proper release. Both Windhand’s ‘Practice
Space Demo’ and Pallbearer’s ‘2010 Demo’ are recent examples of bands living up
to expectations and bestowing upon their fans excellent first albums. It is
also not uncommon for a band’s demo to be released or reissued following their
studio output as was the case with Blood Farmers’ ‘Permanent Brain Damage’.
Without this phenomenon Internal Void’s ‘Voyage’ demo would sadly go unnoticed
and unheard by doom-heads across the globe save perhaps for that small
contingency of fans lucky enough to live in or around Maryland in the early 90s.
Internal Void’s ‘Voyage’ demo is a vinyl only re-release of
the cassette and is a beautiful limited edition of 300 copies with white splatter
on translucent blue vinyl. The band’s distinctive blend of rock, psychedelia,
and doom are clearly manifested on this demo and, had this been widely
circulated prior to the ‘Standing on the Sun’ album, it would have heralded
great things to come.
Despite the song title, opening track “Nothing But Misery”
gallops at a rock n’ roll clip occasionally downshifting gears into a more
doomed-out pace showcasing the band’s mastery of playing rock tinged doom
metal. Even on this early demo vocalist J.D. Williams exhibits his range as a
vocalist. His voice effortlessly switches between singing in raspy lower ranges
or the nasally tones often associated with Ozzy which dominates the first song
on ‘Voyage’. It’s a solid album opener that hints at some of the great
compositions that the band would later produce on ‘Standing on the Sun’ or the
excellent ‘Unearthed’.
Album highlight “The Entrance” makes this demo well worth
the purchase and is one of the best tunes ever penned by the band. It’s
surprising that it was never rerecorded for any of their future releases.
Unlike the opening track, “The Entrance” brings the doom in the form of a
bass-heavy psychedelic groover accompanied by sections of flanged guitar. Like
many of Internal Void’s songs this track shifts in tempo allowing the song to
uncoil and breathe.
Side A concludes with a return to straight-up rock with “A
Thousand Souls” which pushes J.D.’s vocals to their raspy limits. It’s a song
that stands out as an oddball track not because it sounds different from the
band’s other material, but because it sounds as if it would be much more at
home on their last studio album ‘Matricide’—an album released thirteen years
after the recording of ‘Voyage’.
“Chasing the Dragon” kicks off side B with a galloping bassline
and a riff that could have come straight from “Fast” Eddie Clarke’s songbook.
Initially it’s a Motorhead/punk infused track that slows down to a crawl for
the chorus where J.D. proclaims: “I’m wasted every day/And I’m burning a good
mind away/But I’m living for what I enjoy/As I slip into this evil void.” Not
the most profound sentiment, but still words to live by.
The self-titled album closer “Internal Void” follows a brief
and forgettable acoustic track entitled “Morning”. Like “The Entrance” this
tune is firmly rooted in the doom metal tradition and is accented sporadically
by acoustic guitar flourishes. It wouldn’t be an Internal Void track if it
didn’t unravel and naturally explore different tempos, a quality that adds to
the durability of their discography.
Internal Void doesn’t play brooding, melancholic doom. Their
sound is complex and is representative of the Maryland scene while still sounding like no
other. The ‘Voyage’ demo is essential for long time fans or it would be an
excellent starting place for the uninitiated. ‘Voyage’ is the perfect way to
kickoff the vinyl reissues of Internal Void’s discography. With any luck
‘Standing on the Sun’ will be pressed and released by year’s end.
Words: Steve Miller
(Originally published at Doommantia)
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