I'm not the world's biggest fan of "alternate history" but picture with me for a moment a timeline where Paul Di'Anno stayed on with Iron Maiden and the deeper, more gothic, more dramatic style of his vocals took over heavy metal. Of course Di'Anno himself wouldn't be enough to change a whole genre's sound (just like the falsetto timbre of Dickinson's voice isn't the only reason heavy metal sounds like it does) but imagine that this also triggered heavy metal bands to lean more heavily on what's in common between them and thrash rather than power metal. In that universe, there are a million bands that sound like Louisiana's VOID. In our universe, that kind of sound is quite rare and, because I love it, something I always watch for.
Forbidden Morals' unique sound is powered by both of the elements that I referenced above. First, the band is led by their vocalist and the timbre on display is simply exquisite. Paul Di'Anno is not the only touch point of course - we can also find traces of early Hetfield and some expressions of lesser well known bands like Annihilator and Mercyful Fate. But the important thing is that these comparisons don't encompass the real thing; the singing on Forbidden Morals is not just homage. It bubbles and bursts with authentic aggression and power, scaling the highs and the (relative) lows of heavy metal's scale. Check out "Gateways of Stone" for example, the third track, and the vocals' expert pinging between blazing high-octave screams, muscular mids on the verses, and even gang vocals when needed.
It all leads this theatrical and dramatic sheen to the music that blends really well with the instrumentation. This is the second element that powers VOID: this is not just Iron Maiden worship recycling the same old gallop riffs. Instead, it's a really fascinating blend between the style of something like the afore-mentioned Annihilator and other late 80's thrash bands like Holy Terror and Destruction. It doesn't quite go into technical thrash but it certainly flirts with a lot of ideas from that style. It then splices those ideas with good old heavy metal, like on lead single "Judas Cradle", which sounds like Killers crash-landed into Ride the Lightning. The important thing is that the instruments feel just as unique and "self-same" as the vocals, creating more than just an amalgamation of styles but rather something that is uniquely VOID.
And that's really the best thing I can say about a heavy metal album in the year of our Lord 2025 - that it's unique. Don't get me wrong, I love plenty of bands who have zero interest in anything beyond homage. I think homage has a place, and an important one, to play in any community and yeah, sometimes all I want are flashy solos and killer galloping riffs. But if what I'm in the mood is the same vibe of heavy metal but through a mirror darkly (or "thrashly" but good God, I can't bring myself to actually write that) then VOID is exactly what I'll go for.
VOID's Forbidden Morals was released today, the 29th of August. Head on over to that handy Bandcamp link above to grab it for yourself.