review of new full length from Daredevil:
This record is incredibly intense and if it doesn't put Virginia's bastard sons Vog on the map then the music world may very well be deaf. Vog hover somewhere in between punk, sludge, stoner rock, noise, psychedelic rock, grind, death and black metal, taking little bits and pieces from each genre and stitching them together into ugly, purely evil jams that I can only liken to Acid Bath most directly. Vog though really don't sound exactly like Acid Bath except in just a few aspects. The vocal performance on this record is a bit like Dax Riggs in that it is all over the map ranging between intense screams that absolutely rage atop the music with some death growls adding more vitriol and even a bit of clean crooning that sounds great and incredibly ominous especially in the context of sprawling epics like "Like the Sky Above" and "Man of Action" which switch tempos up between eerie, suffocating sludge and more punishing metal with clean vocals adding a ton of dementia to the slower parts. The former of these two songs keeps getting noisier and freaked out as it keeps going as the pace slows to that of pure, plundering sludge with crazy effects seeping through the layers of sound like patterns coming through the floor on a good trip. In fact this whole record is like being on drugs without actually taking anything and that is a pretty high compliment. I just like how this record is all over the place never giving you a chance to compose yourself or figure out what they are going to throw your way next. They bring much faster speeds and in your face vocal assaults on tracks like "Stepping Stones of Humane Survival" and "Odin's Will" which are near grind in their intensity but still draw a certain amount of influence from sludge and punk, whereas album closer "Whatever Works" finds them bringing a straight-up southern groove to the forefront with some fast metallic punk coming in later for more intensity. The band is incredibly tight overall; I still can't get over how insane the vocal performance is. It really hits me on a lot of levels and the guy has got a tone that is just completely over the top and unrelenting and the rest of the band is on top of their game as well. The riffs just keep coming and they are always changing in speed and style which keeps things busy enough to suit the aptly pummeling rhythm section as the drummer has plenty of chances to go completely nuts on the kit. This is damn fine stuff overall and there's not one track that even drags on this record. If you dig Acid Bath then definitely check out Vog, they take that whole sound and step it up a notch and add so many of their own nuances to it. Here is to hoping that these guys will get picked up by a label soon because there is no way in hell that this amazing full-length can stay unreleased for long. If you dig sludge but are looking for something a bit more insane and off the deep end then Vog should definitely be worth your time. This is going to go down as one of my favorite records of the year for sure so check it out! Highly recommended! 7/7 - JS
Formed in the peak of the summer of 2004, VOG had its first jam in a basement in Oakton, Virginia. Vog came to fruition based on an intent to play music with other members who were serious enough to commit to playing on a regular basis. Riffs written out of pipe dreams flowed through the aura of dirge that released the steam of sour days.
Vog is the hawaiian term for a wretched gas/smoke present when volcanoes erupt that makes all that come in contact with it nauseous.
Vog also has symbolic meaning in the Runic language, an ancient European language that was used on inscriptions, monuments, and for magical divinatory purposes. In the Runic language, each character means something particular and combined into one they form something greater. Here's it correspondence with VOG:
V (Wyn) - the rune of pure joy and happiness, not through others but through the achievements of one's dreams and unique life path
O (Odal) - is the homestead, which was very precious to wandering peoples. It is used to represent all domestic issues and is a protective rune of the home.
G (Gyfu) - means the gift of giving. It also represented relationships, especially sexual ones, and is therefore one of the fertility runes.
Currently, we have a split 7" with Shenandoah Valley blues crushers, Valkyrie (www.thevalkyrierides.com), which features the track, "The Stepping Stones of Humane Survival."
You can purchase the 7" for $4 from interpunk.com by clicking here.
"The Colors of Infiniti" CD is available for $5 through interpunk.com by clicking here.
The song, "Like the Sky Above," will be sent to labels for another potential split 7" or compilation track once we get our press kits together.
Vog has played with such bands as: 5ive, Baroness, Beaten Back to Pure, Black Cobra, Buried Inside, Burnout, Dragon Green, Durga Temple, Earthride, Gates of Slumber, the Heuristic, Jumbo's Killcrane, Lord, Meth and Goats, Nitroseed (ex-Spirit Caravan), Off Transmission, Pearls & Brass, Rebreather, Reverend Bizarre, Rosetta, Slough Feg, Syzslak, the Tenth Key, Unearthly Trance, Unorthodox, Valkyrie, the Wayward (ex-Carrion), Weed Is Weed (ex-Spirit Caravan), Weedeater, Wetnurse, Witch Hunt, Withered (ex-Social Infestation, Leechmilk)
To order a copy of the Sad Girl DVD, send $3.00 cash to:
Satan Rock Records
PO BOX 2253
Fairfax, VA 22031
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