Void Of Vision Strike Hard & Heavy With 'Ghost In The Machine'

13 November 2017 | 1:14 pm | Alex Sievers
Originally Appeared In

'Ghost In The Machine' is taken from Void Of Vision's surprise new EP, 'Disturbia'.

Honestly, I haven't enjoyed a Void Of Vision track this damn much since 'Life//Blood'. 



UNFD continue their running trend of dropping surprise releases on our collective laps with Void Of Vision all of a sudden dropping their pumpin' new four-track EP, 'Disturbia' this past Friday. Recorded with Ocean Grove's Sam Bassal and mixed & mastered by WZRDBLD, with Drew Fulk (Motionless in WhiteI Prevail) sitting in the producer's chair, 'Disturbia' is out now and you can purchase it right here.

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The bouncy lead single from this new EP is the strikingly good 'Ghost In The Machine', one of the most emotionally affecting songs the Melbourne band has written to date, showing some of the most forthcoming personally exposing lyrics that Jack Bergin has penned thus far. Case in point, lyrics like "I will always be my own third degree/I'm fucking dead inside, and no one can see/I guess this life just ain't for me" making this feeling of a figurative ghost trapped within a machine of human flesh all the more palpable. 

Many online have also been quick to point out the clear Northlane influence on this particular track - from the production aesthetic, the guitar layers and backing melodic lines - which makes a lot of sense. As Northlane guitarist Jon Deiley actually helped his label mates with co-writing this new gem. A track that was also apparently written on the group's debut European tour earlier this year during what they've called a "watershed moment". 

While it's a great song through and through, it's the film clip for 'Ghost In The Machine' - directed & produced by Cian Marangos - that I think elevates the track to another level. It begins with Bergin sitting alone outside a small house, listening to a woman's voice on a recorder who is recounting Percy B. Green's A Man Of Words And Not Deeds poem. In this case, the woman is reading aloud the poem's beginning: "A man of words and not of deeds/Is like a garden full of weeds/And when the weeds begin to blow/It’s like a garden full of snow".

Now, there are a couple interesting things to take away here. Firstly, and perhaps somewhat inconsequentially, this lady (whether through the band, Marangos or through her own doing) states "And when the weeds begin to blow", instead of the poem's original, correct line: "And when the weeds begin to grow". It's a very small difference, but I'm a man of finer detail goddamnit. Secondly, the rest of the poem, of which Bergin's recorder skips to the final two lines at the very end of the video, reads: 

"And when the snow begins to fall

It’s like a bird upon the wall

And when the bird away does fly

It’s like an eagle in the sky

And when the sky begins to roar

It’s like a lion at the door

And when the door begins to crack

It’s like a stick across your back

And when your back begins to smart

It’s like a penknife in your heart

And when your heart begins to bleed

You’re dead, and dead, and dead indeed."

Those last two lines of the poem are very in-keeping with this track's downtrodden, depressed tone. Especially so with Bergin himself stating in a recent press release sent out that this EP "...was really for an experience I wanted myself to have, seeking the hopeful relief of facing my own demons". 

Furthermore, there is a metric fuck ton of religious imagery in this video. Written in black letters on the house's back door that Bergin enters through to join his bandmates before the music starts reads "SINNERS ONLY". Further in the house are other phrases like 'chaos' and 'soulless' written upon the walls as well, further adding to the dire mental state and self-loathing behind this track's lyrics. While the graffiti behind the quartet on the inside walls looks wicked within the context of a music video, it goes deeper by being this rather creepy collection of religious symbols. Twisting serpents, saint-like individuals suffering crucifixion wounds, a woman with ram's horns growing out of her head, a near-featureless individual with an inverted cross upon their forehead, demon-tailed baby angels crying blood - coupled with the fact that all of these figures are crying, have inverted crossed on their foreheads, and with Bergin's pained movements and performance throughout - it's a very effective cinematic overall. 

But then again, there's also a poster in the corner behind drummer George Pfaendner early on that reads 'VOID" (because why the hell not) and below that also reads "FUCK" in even bigger, bolder writing for maximum edgy points. Also, Pfaendner is wearing a gold chain around his neck throughout the entire clip. Make of that what you will. 

As for this new EP's remaining three tracks, especially the closer 'Grey Area', they're just as solid songs as their lead single. After all, I've always found Void Of Vision's brand of metalcore really lends itself well to shorter releases such as this kickass new EP, making this a far more memorable release than their largely repetitive 2016 LP, 'Children Of Chrome' - which we scored an average 60/100 last year. (Expect a full review of 'Disturbia' to arrive this week). Be sure to check out 'Ghost In The Machine' below: 



Void Of Vision are hitting the road later this month with Graves, Reactions and Thornhill. Check out the dates and info here