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VOID OF SLEEP
Tales Between Reality And Madness

Aural Music (2013)
Rating: 7.5/10

How about a dose of Italian dooooooom metal? Considering these guys formed in 2010, Tales Between Reality And Madness is an incredibly mature record, coming hot on the heels of 2011’s Giants And Killers EP.

Now, if you’re after intriguing doom metal then Void Of Sleep is most definitely the band for you, especially if you’re bogged down by too many of those over-long stoner metal albums. This Italian outfit are a quartet fronted by Burdo (Andrea Burdisso), who also plays guitar alongside Gale (Marco Galeotti), who in turn is accompanied by bassist Paso (Riccardo Pasini) and drummer Allo (Andrea Allodoli).

Now, I’ve been a fan of doom metal ever since the beginning, from bands such as Death SS, Pentagram, Candlemass, Count Raven and Witchfinder General, to bleaker tirades such as Winter, but Void Of Sleep really are a gem of a band. Not for a long time have I witnessed such a refreshing brand of doom, and here’s a band that clearly aren’t intent on sending you off to the land of nod. Instead they combine that classic Black Sabbath groove with almost jarring complexity, alongside groove-based slabs of infectious retro metal.

If you were disappointed by the last batch of Corrosion Of Conformity albums then I’m sure you’ll dig the monolithic strains of ‘Lost In The Void’ with its accessible riffage and yet grating sub-textures. Void Of Sleep go beyond the doomy storms of the norm, opting for some interesting and often complex dynamics, whether in the form of the vocals, which shift from floaty to sombre, or the often bewildering intricacies, enabling the band to flit from heaving doom to perplexing psychedelia. ‘Lost In The Void’ is a prime example of a band happy to experiment with ever-changing styles, and considering this track clocks in at almost eight minutes, the time flies when you’re having so much fun. The same can also be said for the bruising ‘Wisdom of Doom’ and the opening title track which is truly monstrous in its approach.

So long ago I revelled in the orgiastic sounds of Stillborn, Count Raven, and lesser known doom acts, and have long since been craving a more flexible sound within the doom metal framework, and Void Of Sleep have most certainly provided that escape. Cathedral certainly spring to mind on the churning opener ‘Blood On My Hands’, but the wistful swirls of ‘Ghost Of Me’ offer an almost pop-tinged and relatively modern sound.

Void Of Sleep aren’t clogged up by occult cliché or drowned by their own fuzzed out weight. Instead they roll with apparent ease over those waves of grey, but not once do they drag the listener into some pit of unlistenable despair. This is how modern doom metal should sound.

Void of Sleep somehow lace their product with a sprig of oaken grunge and yet remain as formidable as any satanically influenced band doing the rounds today. I was hooked after the first listen, and by the time the 43 minutes are up, you’ll find yourself jumping back into the kaleidoscope for another spin of these seven serpentine songs. Good stuff.

Neil Arnold

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