After a 6-year wait, The Voidz have finally released a follow-up to Virtue. 2024’s Like All Before You feels more like a proper follow-up to its 2018 predecessor than that album felt in comparison to the debut album that came before it, and one of the strongest points of this new album is how it also makes room for elements of that debut to peek through, too.
I don’t know if this rings true to other listeners, but I’ve found that listening to a new album from The Voidz always follows an arc that starts with “hmm, so that was interesting— but I don’t hate it” and after several listening sessions it ends with “it’s weird, and that’s what I like about it.” It always takes me a while to process what Casablancas, Beardo, and the rest of the group cook up, and the more I listen to a new project the easier it becomes to understand it better as a piece of audible art you have to experience to comprehend and assess how much it speaks to you (or not).
There’s a sort of campy undertone to The Voidz that may not be for everyone, which I feel compelled to point out as a weakness if broad appeal is the goal. But if their goal is to speak to an underground audience that can appreciate a group of individuals coming together to put on masks that transform them into eccentric characters delivering their politically charged commentary through music, then it’s easier to understand why The Voidz have amassed an impassioned following of their own. Like All Before feels like they set out to make an 80s-style movie adaption of Castlevania. The best way I can sum it up, the music has the flash and the twists and turns of a comic book but if you look beyond that you’ll notice the lyrics can elevate it to being a graphic novel.
Overall, I dig this album. Here are my top 5 tracks on Like All Before You by The Voidz.
“Square Wave”
The Post-Punk riff at the backbone of this track is what hooked me instantly. Despite any accusations of me being a bit of a fanboy when it comes to critiquing his music, I must confess that didn’t care too much for Casablancas’ auto-tuned vocals during the verses… But when we get to the chorus and the bridge before the outro, and I’ll be having a hard time saying I’m anything but. The melody and chord progression in the chorus echoes what Casablancas has been toying with in the bridge of “The Adults Are Talking” and the outro to “The Eternal Tao 2.0” The synths feel bright and shimmery in such a way that makes me wonder how cool it must be to hear this in a dingy bar/club that is no stranger to neon.
“Prophecy of the Dragon”
One of the strongest points in this album comes early with track # 3. Another example of what the band can do when they’re clicking well with each other, giving themselves the liberty to take unconventional chances and combining them to make something that’s just fun when you stop thinking about sticking to the rules. The glittery arpeggio of the guitar in the pre-chorus feels to me like a stripped-down version of the lick behind Pink Floyd’s “See Emily Play,” which shines brighter thanks to the contrast of vintage Heavy Metal riffs that break up the song into sections. The song also fits in another Post-Punk detour, adding more texture to a track that already packs so much without feeling like a distraction or unnecessary. This song is a 5-minute trip that I have found myself taking very often since it came out, and I can already feel like it’s going to be a fan-favorite for years to come.
“7 Horses”
This track had to grow on me. The soft-burning pace is so different from the frenetic energy that I have been craving since their debut album Tyranny, and it wasn’t until my Yo. Check This podcast co-hosts told me that this song dies make sense with proper context. In their case, it was playing Red Dead Redemption, which then allowed me to visualize a setting for it that worked for me— a post-apocolyptic Western directed by Robert Rodriguez. The guitar work is brilliant, particularly the solos, which served as guides through the jamming going on behind it.
“Flexorcist”
Alex Turner just wanted to be one of The Strokes. On this track, the leader of that band and this one lets his yearning to be an 80s New Wave star shine through unabashedly. “Flexorcist” comes off as well as anything that you would have enjoyed on their previous album
“When Will the Time of These Bastards End”
After my first run through the album from front to back, this song stood out as the early pick for my favorite song on the album. Since then I’ve listened to Like All Before You enough to have a rotating list of favorites now and my top choice depends on whatever mood or scene I’m experiencing, and this song is firmly in that group. This track fits that campy medieval aesthetic, particularly with the vocal performance of the evil counterpart to Casablancas. The Metal solo cements the idea that The Voidz are taking a theatrical route through a fantasy land to deliver their satirical storytelling, similar to how Dio or Alice Cooper would do it in their era.
