Customer Reviews

Faith/Void

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just want to talk about V.O.I.D. (actually, I'll talk about the Faith below). No, I never saw them perform, nor have I met anyone in the band. But I am an experienced guitar player who has owned this release since I tried to buy the Teen Idles first 7 inch, but was sent the Faith/V.O.I.D. release instead (they were out of the Teen Idles!). How very fortunate for me!
The more I listen to V.O.I.D., the more I realize that these four musicians not only touched brilliance, they were steeped in it. V.O.I.D. embodies the abandon and understanding of the true power of various barre chords played through an amp at the breaking point of crackling distortion overload. They eschewed the (so very cool) buzz tone chainsaw guitar sound that many of the D.C bands craved for one of more pure molten abandon. In fact, Bubba Dupree, their guitarist, had the gain/distortion set so high into the stratosphere that any time he stopped playing and paused, the guitar fed back like a screaming banshee. No other band, except for perhaps Flipper or Black Flag, has ever harvested such out of control guitar tones and transformed them into such pure musical power.
The coolest thing about Bubba Dupree's tone was that it was at once simple and direct, yet unconventional. He saturated his driving distortion with heavy flanging without detracting from the guitar's attack and roar. He just played his amps flat out, and wrung out guitar tones that are two inches from your eyeballs.
I love this V.O.I.D. release because it really shows you that its not only 'talent' that creates masterpieces of this purity, but it is the harnessing and unleashing of the VISION that propelled them at the moments they wrote this material and recorded the songs.
I wish I had seen this band live at some point. It would have been my epiphany to see them rage on a stage, wringing notes out of the instruments at hand, guitar feedback screaming through every song break...a touch with purity.
Black Flag was like that too. Both bands shared that dedication to the artistic vision of just how hard you could push the envelope while making the best music possible at the same time.
With every listen to this recording, I gain more respect for the musicianship and artistry of the band members. Sure, they were not playing like Eddie Van Halen. But that was part of the point. They played one eighth the notes of some shredder, but made music 8 times better (and 4 times faster!). Yet, they were not minimalists..they were maximalists!
The only other band of this time period that reached these levels of agression (in my opinion) was perhaps the Los Angeles-based Stains (another supra fantastic band).
Yes, its true...I am infatuated with this band and their sound.
Listening to this band makes me want to go beserk! Bubba's playing is so full and right to the point. The vocalist is nothing but honest..and that is everything. The bass and drums thunder through the sets like a stampede of elephants running for their lives.
The band is darkly cast in ideas. 'Face the darkness! Stare this world in the face! Like the first cut, "I come to you with all my problems/ But you don't care you won't be bothered/ SO WHO ARE YOU AND WHY AM I HERE?!??WHO ARE YOU AND WHY AM I HERE!?!?
THe Faith side is actually very good too. They really show you how to make one and a half minutes of hardcore mania work! The Faith's tone is almost the opposite of V.O.I.D.'s; not more quiet, just more exact and controlled, but aggressive as you can get. I've never heard guitars buzz like this Faith release!
The V.O.I.D. side was unexpected and unfamiliar. Much darker, songs on the edge of panic, control being lost...and then found, delivering a new fresh sound, unheard of, unique, yet with its roots firmly in the soils of the music communities of such settings...but pushing the envelope with a deeply personal vision.
Bubba Dupree has become one of my favorite guitar players. Not just his fantastic tonal abilities and complexities in the super overdrive/distortion realms, but also his technique. He new when and how to play sloppy and make it work. How many guitarists can really do that effectively? But he also new how to make a guitar scream. Bubba, I am in your debt for greatly expanding my playing and my views of what was possible in punk rock and all music. I have never heard anyone go quite over the top like he did on this release.
I highly recommend this release to all fans of punk, hardcore punk, and punk/metal hybrids (not that these labels/categories can capture what V.O.I.D. sounded like). You'll get two great bands in one package. It's a godsend that Dischord put these two different sounding bands on the same release. Visionary!
Also of note: The famous Dischord release "Flex Your Head" also has three cuts by V.O.I.D. I HIGHLY recommend these three songs if you like this band, as they are my favorites. For me, they are the highlight of the release.
I guess this review would best serve a real fan of hard, driving, out of control, focused, contradictory music, i.e. the average punk rock accolyte.
If I were to form a mythical bill for a fantastic concert featuring bands compatible and/or like-minded musically, I might include Black Flag (before their "My War" period...no offense!), the Stains, and perhaps the Germs (if we could get Darby to sing into the mic!).
Bubba Dupree rips! Sincerely, Nightcrawler......

I heard this back in the day...FAITH were your standard, DC hardcore band: fast, loud but melodic. If FAITH existed today they would probably sound very close to something like PENNYWISE. But this was FAITH's undoing: sounding too good, too clean, too proper. Don't get me wrong; FAITH were a very good hardcore band...it just didn't move me as much as VOID, the band who shares this CD with FAITH. VOID, like other reviewers have said, were pure, unbridled chaos, that differed drastically with FAITH's "correctly produced" sound. The singer sounded like he was REALLY pissed off, ripping his vocal chords in such a vicious way that reminded me of Ian Mac Kaye (Minor Threat) or Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü) and the guitar mayhem of Bubba Dupree sounded like some very twisted version of grunge rock played 10 times faster. What I'm trying to say here is that the sound that VOID offer, despite being "less" clean than FAITH's, really caught my ear and my heart and to this day, if I were to purchase this album again, it would be solely because of VOID. If you like chaotic hardcore from the 80's, you'll do no wrong in checking out this FAITH/VOID CD. Play it Loud!!!

Faith's main problem is that they were paired with Void on this split and simply because of Void's sheer intensity they were wrongfully overshadowed.
I've always been completely bowled over by all that Void managed to capture on this recording. It's completely nuts. I imagine that this is the most genuinely enraged music I have ever heard in my life.

Now Faith, on the other hand, embody all the right elements that a good hardcore band should; short, fast, to the point, nothing left to be mistaken as artiness and plenty of genuine anger.

Do yourself a favor and listen to The Faith without listening to Void and you'll know what I mean.
And then, after you've had a really rotten day, turn on the void side.

This 1982 Dischord split includes the legendary Void who could be blamed for spawning bands such as Universal Order of Armegeddon,Antioch Arrow, & VEKh. Studio tricks & complex riffs 10 years before it would be exceptable to "punk" bands. The members of Void did not go on to do anything else to speak of but they left only this Split release & "Condensed Flesh" a demo recorded about a year before & includes different versions of some of the same songs. They had a sound completly of their own & at the time sounded no where near anything going on on either coast. Faith includes Dischord founder Ian MacKaye's brother Alec MacKaye(Untouchables, Ignition , Warmers) along with Guitarist Michael Hampton who played in Henry Rollins' (Henry Garfield) first band State of Alert. This includes thier side of the split along with their album "Subject To Change". One of the most important D.C. releases, one of the most important releases in this era. *also see "Year in 7 inches" (comprised of first 7 inch releases by Dischord). Includes Teen Idles,State of Aler,Minor Threat,Government Issue, & Youth Brigade.

Get this for the Void. Fast, dc-style hardcore is a genre that can be a tad repetitive and uninteresting, but Void is a big exception. When you hear people wax poetic about how hardcore was/is for the kids, those poor misfits that don't fit in etc, most of the time its a pretentious excuse for feeling good about one's clique/trend of choice. Void is the rare hardcore band that actually sounds like an authentic expression of individuality and alienation. These wild, chaotic songs sound like they were put together by kids who were genuinely a little off. These songs are awesome, and will definitely enhance your music collection.

this is worth every penny. faith is quite good, however at certain points they tread on that all-to-familiar line of typical straight edge hardcore, but alec mackaye's voice and the band's aggression save it from typical posi-core fodder. now i consider void to be one of the best bands ever. the true anger, smart lyrics, and all out fury make them a classic no matter when i listen to them. i wish both bands had more out than this and the stuff on the 'flex your head' comp.

Void are probably the best band to come out of the DC hardcore circuit (YES, even better than Fugazi, Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Youth Brigade, Scream, etc.). They top almost every other band on the planet in terms of passion and chaos. They harness the power of screaming vocals and deafening feedback better than almost anybody, accept maybe Black Flag. Legend has it that they never finished a show, all their performances just descended into chaos and had to be aborted half-way through. Anybody who's heard this album can believe that, every one of their songs is an exercise in (barely) controlled chaos and aggression.

Unfortunately, the majority of the tracks on this cd are from The Faith, a great band in their own right, but nowhere near as intense or creative as VOID. They contribute a few excellent songs, but on the whole, this album peaks in the middle with all the Void tracks.

I'd give the Void -section of this album an easy 5*'s, while The Faith get 4*'s. This is definitely a must-have record for any fan of hardcore, and it ranks up there with Minor Threat's "Complete Discography", Black Flag's "Damaged" and "Everything Went Black" and the Stooges' "Raw Power" as one of the most essential punk records of all time. One of the highlights of the entire Dischord catalogue. Stop reading these reviews and ORDER THIS ALBUM NOW

Great blast of teen angst oozes with hormonal teen stink. Self-concious, anger, pimples, hair, girls, beer, no beer, all ages, FU I have this on vinyl and once was enough.

to start off this is the queinessental album for any inspiring punk rocker. it reaks of the energy and perservarance that makes us remember why we are into punk in the first place .to start this is a combanation album buy 2 of the greatest bands to grace our shores void and faith.void is a dark sinsister cutting edge band.and faith is a powerfull aggrenalin moving force.so you have 2 great sounds on one disc only makes this a better deal.i like that fact also the dischord makes these great albums avaliable for so much a little cost compared to the coperate price standards of todays record prices.so buy this now and you will impress your self your friends and anyone else that has some kind of idea of good punk in general...if you want to know more about the band just visit the dischord website.........

Void is chaos. Void is many people's favorite band regardless of genre. Void is some people's religion. They must be heard to be believed. Kind of a cross between classic harDCore, Jimi Hendrix, and a filled blender on full blast with the cover removed.

Faith seems to include classical motifs into their music, with amazing guitar work, and Ian MacKaye's brother Alec on vocals.