VOG

The Australian progressive metal band VAUXDVIHL only released one full album "To Dimension Logic" in 1994 and offered a midway point between the 80s Queensryche metal sound and a grungier alternative metal sound that was dominating the 90s. After the release of the album guitarist Frederic Leduc and bassist / keyboardist Edward Katz immediately left the band to pursue greener pastures leaving founder guitarist and vocalist Fab Gallen with the dilemma of whether to continue the his band that had been plagued by so many difficulties. Despite all trials and tribulations he opted to continue on and release two more EPs. VOG was the first of these two final releases that came out four years after their debut following their "96 Demo" which was a promo to showcase their new musical sound. The band was down to a duo with Gallen handling the guitar and vocals while Chris Deloy continued on drums and picked up keyboard duties as well.

In contrast to their debut, VOG has a much darker and sinister feel to it as it is dominated by eerie and frigid atmospheres and electronic percussive beats accompanied by heavily distorted guitar and bass sounds that sound like a much more metal version of Skinny Puppy actually, however the compositions are much more progressive as they not only meander through the full industrial metal assault with raging angry shouted vocals but also have softer ethereal passages with clean vocals that echo and reverb to infinity. The production on VOG is particularly pleasant as sounds sort of slide off into infinity while others pick up and overlap. Tracks like "Assassination" include piano and heavy symphonic backgrounds that overpower the metal aspects that get pushed to the background. There is also a touch of Gothic mysticism in the feel of the album although there are never any Dracula inspired vocals found in bands like Type O Negative for example.

VOG is a mixed bag actually. While it is always admirable for a band to expand its horizons and try something new, this new sound seems a little scattered at this point and i wish that they metal aspects had more prominence than they do. While some of the heavier parts are quite satisfying, some of the softer parts resonate along for too long and don't develop any sort of satisfying crescendo. The electronic percussion can be a bit too much as heard on "The Funeral Party" and at points like this with weird electronically processed vocals it begins to sound more like something that would have been heard on "The Matrix" soundtrack with big beat hardcore breaks that remind me more of bands like The Prodigy than any type of metal act. While i find all the tracks to be interesting, there is a clear lack of cohesion between them as they all sound disparate and crying out for some sort of continuity. A decent release but not as interesting as the followup "Siberian Church Recordings." Both VOG and the following EP can be found as bonus tracks on the 2014 re- release edition of "To Dimension Logic."