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Endless Void, Apparitions: Strange Things Abound

Posted in Reviews on April 9th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

The first thing to know about Endless Void? There’s not much to know. The one-man project of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist James Owen has opted out of the internet sphere, so that even the most vigorous of Googling only results in a few hits from others writing about the band and nothing at all from Owen himself. Plenty of bands claim to eschew the social media sphere, far fewer actually do, and it means that when it comes to the background on Endless Void, it’s just about nil. There wasn’t a band, then there was. The late-2012 Apparitions demo was preceded by an earlier outing, 2010’s Final Doom, released through a mysterious AIF Records, the only website for which I found seemed to promise an all-in-one solution to becoming a rock star. Not sure if it’s the same label or not. Hope not.

I suppose there’s something to be said for trying to keep a band obscure. I’m not sure what, but something. Certainly kvlt-ish posturing has done favors in street cred for any number of acts over the last couple years, but I don’t know if that’s Endless Void‘s trip or not. More relevant, Apparitions is comprised of four grim, lo-fi cuts — “R.I.P./March of the Dead,” “Spiritualistic Medium,” “Bereaved” and “Apparitions and the Undertaker” — that bask in darker NWOBHM riffing and vague doomed allusions. Owen seems to be working from a base of Witchfinder General crunch, but the production on the tracks is rougher, giving the 20-minute outing a grim, cassette-ready vibe. The sort of pretentious vibing in “Spiritualistic Medium” — the title’s extra “-istic” where “spiritual” would’ve sufficed, for example — I’d trace back to a latent black metal affinity, but there’s next to none of that in the actual sound of Apparitions, which gives little indication of Endless Void being a one-man outfit as “R.I.P./March of the Dead” gets underway with fittingly metallic circumstance, the drums ’80s echoing behind the lyric tale of zombies coming back to life and, well, marching.

“Spiritualistic Medium” keeps picks up the pace and reminds of some of Iron Man‘s classic moments, more metal than doom, but the swagger of “Bereaved” is probably the highlight of the demo, stomping and grooving with more NWOBHM guitar compression and stops in the drums that only add to the swing. Vocally, Owen mostly follows the guitars (his), but the thicker distortion of “Apparitions and the Undertaker” to close out Apparitions is worth following. Structurally, the demo as a whole is straightforward, but a faithful representation of metal’s 80’s roots for all that, and Owen quickly ends the title-track to fade up a line of organ (presumably that’s “The Undertaker,” though I’ve not yet confirmed whether or not it’s the wrestler’s entrance theme) and give a last-minute injection of weirdness to the proceedings. Weirdness wasn’t exactly lacking, however, but even in context with the rest of Endless Void‘s oddities, the organ is a bit unexpected and its entrance awkward.

Still, if it’s rough, well, it’s a demo and that’s what it’s there for. Word on the street has it that Owen is looking to put a full lineup together, so although he’s made it difficult to get in touch with the band or track down more info, total misanthropy isn’t the aim. I guess we’ll have to see how it finally pans out, but for now, if you can manage it, Apparitions is a curio at least worth a few minutes of listening time, particularly if you’ve ever found yourself mourning the tape-trade treasures of yesteryear.

Endless Void, “Spiritualistic Medium”

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