An hour or two of synth noodling is usually enough for most of us, but not for Brighton based Voyder collective apparently. The group’s live sessions together have reportedly lasted as long as 14 hours. From these initial foundations as a group of friends simply enjoying jamming together, the project has mutated to include live gigs, and most recently a frontier as a record label. The debut release comes in the form of XXXXX (co-released with Bedroom Research), by Cornwall based producer, VORRS.

Each track on the LP is titled in bold, and it is this sense of brashness which should be expected from the release. As a Voyder member put to me when I asked why they didn’t press the LP to vinyl, ‘there wouldn’t be much point as the needle would jump straight off the record’. This album is about loudness, and it doesn’t care how much it hurts your ears.

There is something about how intentionally abrasive this album is that borders on the antisocial - the whole thing smells of burning rubber and it’s brilliant. Take centre piece ‘COMA BOY’ for example. If the track’s demented theremin tones weren’t disorientating enough on their own, VORRS’ crunching basslines and twisted breakbeat reductions certainly don’t help. Just as you think proceedings can’t get any more intense, the whole thing is hijacked by an added layer of distortion in the closing third, reaching a thunderous climax.

Opener ‘V_R2.6’, title track ’XXXXX’ and ’MMMEAT’ are similarly feverish in their volumes, if you were to load this album into a waveform generator, you would likely be presented with ten impenetrable rectangular blocks. This said, there are some rare moments of clarity. ‘BLACK SUN’ for example provides something of the unexpected, giving way in its latter half to reveal a glimmering, bitcrushed organ refrain in a rare moment of Dead Fader brand tenderness.

The album is not without a sense of humour as well - something rarely shared by others operating in the modus of full-throttle noise. ’KONGZILLA’ for example retains plenty of comic-book cheek sonically, squealing samples and chip tune melodies bursting between VORRS’ densely distorted rhythms.

The release encapsulates a love of harsh sounds which arguably unites Voyder’s members above all else, making it a fitting opener to their discography.  Given the material covered across XXXXX, I’m not sure how many future releases I’ll be able to review before one of gives me a seizure, but I’ll do my best.

  • Published
  • Nov 30, 2015
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