On the heels of their split CD with THE LAST VAN ZANT and THE PARISH, DESOLATEVOID has been placed on RateYourMusic.com’s list of “Essential Doom Metal You’ve Never Heard.” Ranked 25th on an ever growing list, the article applauds the band’s “form of gritty, crusty, in your face, Southern sludgy metal…” and compares them to the likes of EYEHATEGOD, SOILENT GREEN, OUTLAW ORDER and GOATWHORE. The list can be read in its entirety here. Visit CAHRecords.com to order your copy of the split.
“What these guys lacked in terms of setting an oppressive or ‘desolate’ atmosphere they made up for in simply kicking your ass with old school rock and roll driven madness.” – Forbidden-Magazine.com
“Bar room brawl inducing metal…” – HellrideMusic.com
DESOLATEVOID was formed in 2003 by Asinine Solution guitarist Pat Sova along with Tim Smith and Andy Howard. The name of the band was originally going to be used by Howard for a one man black metal project that he was going to start up but he decided to apply the name to the band that Sova and Smith were starting. Bassist Noah Martin was later added as was Matt McNallie as the second guitarist. Changes started happening in 2004 when Noah went AWOL. After a few months, McNallie relocated to the Twin Cities to attend school. The three core members still wanted to remain a five-piece, so Nick Carroll, former bassist for LEGION OF DOOM and CAH Records boss, came on board to provide the low end rumble. Around the same time INVICTICUS (a different project that Smith and Howard were involved with) bassist, Brent K, was getting the urge to play guitar again. The line up started rehearsing in the summer of 2005, geared up for recording and gigging. The debut CD, Self Medicated Psycho Therapy, was released on Crimes Against Humanity Records in the winter of 2006. This debut received many excellent reviews that praised the band for their everything goes in the pot approach musically as well as Andy’s vocal abilities. The band did several shows around the upper Midwest with several hardcore, crust, and metal bands. One of the highlights was warming up DEICIDE on Halloween night 2006 in their hometown of Eau Claire Wisconsin.
In November 2006, Pat was in a terrible accident which has left him disabled.
Long time friend of the band, Mark Stolp, was asked to play guitar in Pat’s absence. The band raged on in 2008 and wrote the material that you can hear on No Sign of Better Times. The music for this album was inspired by the frustration and anguish from the loss of Pat Sova as a band mate. Although, one may think by looking at the album art that this disk is some sort of social-political commentary on the current state of the world, it is not. The over all theme deals with personal hardships and struggles that never seem to let up. No Sign… also received a similar amount of critical praise with most reviewers claiming that the band had created a perfect blend of underground metal and punk both visually and musically. Once again the band traveled all over the frozen wastes of the upper Midwest playing a variety of venues from large music clubs to DIY basement shows. This time around they shared the stage with acts like GOATWHORE, M.O.D, and INTO ETERNITY.
The newest release for DESOLATEVOID is the three-way split with Greensville, South Carolina’s THE LAST VAN ZANT and Appleton, Wisconsin’s THE PARISH. The idea to release a split came about shortly after Self Medicated came out. THE LAST VAN ZANT’S demo was one of many demos received by Crimes Against Humanity that stood out and got Nick and the band’s attention. The quality of the demo was not surprising considering that LVZ guitarist Bo Lesile is also a member of the southern sludge supergroup BIRDS OF PREY. After contact was made, both bands felt that their sounds would complement each other well on a split. The addition of THE PARISH came when mastering of the original 2 band split was happening. Ryan from CAH Records label mates Wartorn, had just finished recording a two song demo with his Stoner/Doom metal band and approached Nick about a future release for THE PARISH. Nick liked what he heard on the demo and the three-way split was born.
When you listen to this split you’ll realize all three bands have something in common, they’re not afraid to blur the lines between underground punk and metal. While certain musical fundamentalists might find this approach disturbing, music listeners that are looking for something that pushes the boundaries will consider this release a milestone for years to come.
