Vision of Disorder - From Bliss To Devastation: Demos

 

Vision of Disorder (V.O.D) for short, is a band that needs no introductions. One of my personal favorite bands - prolly like top 7 of all time, top 5 definitely if we're talking hardcore. Hailing from Long Island and formed in 1992, VOD are true trailblazers in their craft. Ever since the beginning of their career they never abided by the typical "hardcore tropes" and opted to always push the boundaries sonically. One of the earliest hardcore / metalcore bands to incorporate clean singing in their music as early as 1995ish. As a band VOD released 6 albums (One is a comp technically), numerous EP's and Splits and 4 demos. The release getting highlighted in this post are the demos that emerged from their fourth and final album as a band in their initial run, From Bliss to Devastation (2001). Prior to this release VOD had been on a few different labels such as the acclaimed, Roadrunner Records as well as Go-Kart Records for the, For the Bleeders album / comp. With a desire for a musical change / evolution VOD turned to TVT Records to release the From Bliss record. This release would prove to be controversial within the VOD fanbase as many core fans disliked the musical path taken on this record. From Bliss while no explicitly a Nu Metal record, definitely falls in line with that category. The album has way less of an emphasis on Hardcore like their previous releases, and tends to gravitate much more towards the Alt Metal / Alt Rock / Nu Metal territory. By this time VOD were already on Ozzfests and shared the stages with bands such as Coal Chamber and Machine Head, a vast difference from the days of their Self Titled 1996 release where they would play tiny clubs in the North East with Hardcore bands like 25 Ta Life and Candiria. The failure of this record as earlier mentioned marked the end of the road for VOD as a band and while they have reunited now and then and dropped two records since, they would never achieve the same previous momentum. Immediately after the failure of this record, Tim, the vocalist and guitarist Kennedy would start the Alt Metal / Alt Rock band Bloodsimple with only about a month or so of space between the release of From Bliss and the creation of the first Bloodsimple demos

Personally, I really enjoy the From Bliss to Devastation record. Is it the worst from their initial 4 records? probably... But when ur a band like VOD who has so many banger records I mean sum cant always be as good as the others, but I love every VOD record so in my opinion this album is still really high quality. Tim also seems to still stand by this record which I also respect. Also personally again, some of my favorite bands are those who have ties in Hardcore but end up going in the more Alt Metal / Rock route like Glassjaw, Candiria, Eighteen Visions, Far, Skycamefalling. Hell this evolution even reminds me of how bands like Faith No More, U2, Incubus and Deftones are always evolving record to record and never want to be put in a box. Tim mentioned in a recent podcast that he was listening to hella U2 during the making of this record and its definitely evident, the title track its almost uncanny in the similarity of the voices in parts. I've always been a U2 fan but recently I've really gotten into their 90's material its so far out. Overall I think From Bliss was a casualty of its time, while fitting perfectly with the landscape of music at that time, it appears it was a record that their core fans didnt want and one that the mainstream audience looked over since records in a similar space such as Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory and Deftones' White Pony were released just a year prior. I honestly think it was the perfect time to release an album like this since Nu Metal was still at it's peak, it would be another thing if this album dropped in 2006 or something but its a damn shame.

The demos found here are two tracks found on the record as well as a bonus track found on the record that's not on streaming. Pretty cool too, I burned the two demos myself from my own personal CD copy of the demo since I wanted them in Lossless audio quality. The demos are exactly as described but the bonus track is definitely a pleasant surprise, it definitely could've been on the record but it's cool to see a B-Side / Bonus material from that era. Misunderstood and overlooked...

From Bliss to Devastation lineup was:

Vocals - Tim Williams

Guitars - Mike Kennedy & Matt Baumbach

Bass - Mike Fleischmann

Drums - Brendon Cohen

From Bliss To Devastation: Demos (2001)

1. On the Table (Demo Verson)

2. Itchin' to Bleed (Demo Version)

3. Blacktoned Child (Bonus Track)

get it, got it, good, get it done...

A Day In The Life

 

A Day In The Life were a post hardcore / emo band from Dayton, Ohio formed in 2001. The band released one full length LP, one EP and one comp / split as a band. They later changed their name to Hawthorne Heights in 2003. formed by JT Woodruff, Jesse Blair, Andy Saunders, Josh Bethel, and Andy Lazier. They took their name from the popular Beatles song "A Day in the Life".

One interesting piece of information I found was that their demo, For Bullets For One Girl is essentially considered lost media. There is legit like no trace of any recordings anywhere even though this demo supposedly sold 500 copies in 2 months which led them to gather the attention of Confined Records. Through Confined Records, A Day in the Life would release their debut full length in 2001, Nine Reasons to Say Goodbye and then later in 2003 EP, Paper Chromatography: The Fade From Dark to Light independently. Once A Day in the Life signed to the infamous Victory Records, the tracks from this aforementioned Paper Chromatography EP would resurface for a 3 way split with bands, The Red Affair & Hit the Lights in 2004. After the release of this split JT would change the band name to Hawthorne Heights and write the first song under that moniker titled, The Transition.

Personally, Hawthorne Heights was never my go to post-hardcore band but it's pretty undeniable how classic their first two records are. I also found this lore to be fascinating since Hawthorne intially seemed like a band that came out of nowhere and blew up from the success of "Ohio Is For Lovers". Cool to see these guys have their roots in DIY and Hardcore.

It's also funny considering one of my more recent posts was on another Ohio band, Clevelands own, Integrity. Crazy to see how just a 10 year difference can drastically change the scope of music within the area. I doubt Mean Steve / Chubby / hell even Dwid would rock w music like this aha. If you look into those 90's Clevo Hardcore bands you'll realize those guys live a vastly different lifestyle than these emo juggernauts.

A Day in the Life Was:

Vocals - JT Woodruff

Guitars - Andy Saunders & Jesse Blair

Bass - Josh Bethel

Drums - Andy Lazier

Nine Reasons to Say Goodbye (2001)

1. The Death of a Dream 

2. Control Alt Delete 

3. Do You Have A Map, Because I'm Lost In Your Eyes

 4. The Girl That Destroyed Me 

5. Candy Canes And Cola 

6. Audrey In Sacramento

7. Photograph 

8. Until Her Heart Stops 

9. I'm Not Crying, My Eyeballs Are Sweating

Paper Chromatography: The Fade From Dark to Light (2003)

1. Angels With Even Filthier Souls 

2. Skyline Fever

3. Apparently, Hoverboards Don't Float on Water

4. Mean Machine

5. The Mild Effects of an MAO Inhibitor

6. The Flux Capacitor

you break my heart... then again, you break everyone's heart.

Integrity - Those Who Fear Tomorrow (OG Mix)

 

Debut record by Cleveland - now Belgium's own, Integrity. One of the first metalcore bands / records ever, released in 1991 this album is groundbreaking and truly a musical milestone within the genre. Not only is this an impressive implementation of metal within hardcore for 1991, but this is also a truly dark and evil record that solidified metal's place within the genre. Don't get it twisted this isn't mosh metalcore like On Broken Wings or The Acacia Strain, this is the literal combination of metal and hardcore very primitive yet progressive for it's time. Personally its a toss up between the first three records for me, I've really been on kick for this record recently but Systems and Seasons are both classics

I decided to upload this since this doesn't technically appear to be on streaming. I was reading somewhere that put it perfectly, someone called Dwid, "The George Lucas of Hardcore" and honestly that's a pretty decent assessment. If you look at their convoluted streaming page (at least on apple music) there's hella versions of like different albums. Apparently Dwid likes to constantly change these records and add to / remix them to make them darker or whatever, but this is the original - truly where it all began. 

Streaming has the 25th anniversary remix version which is similar to this but there are differences, most notably the intro which is much longer / ambient than the OG mix. I think of this version more as a glorified remaster. There's also the 2022 mix version of this record which completely replaces the drum tracks of OG Integrity drummer / One Life Crew founder, Chubby Fresh and replaces them with Igor Cavalera (like kinda random but kinda crazy too ngl).

There's a hole rabbit hole when it comes to learning about Integrity, the numerous beefs (the specific one between Dwid and Chubby Fresh is honestly hilarious - read up on it sum of the shit its fr crazy), The lineage of some of their band members (One Life Crew), Their bizarre evolution as a band (Integrity2000) and ig just the mystique behind the band as their imagery obliviously correctly suggest that Dwid is a fan of all things occult, because again let me remind you this is 1991. If you go down the rabbit hole you'll realize that Clevo HC is pretty bizarre, nonetheless they produced some genre defining classics. This in particular, is where it it all began and started a movement. Hardcore / Metalcore at some of its most dark / evil / misanthropic and raw.

Those Who Fear Tomorrow lineup was:

Vocals - Dwid Hellion

Guitars - Christopher Smith & Aaron Melnick

Bass - Leon Melnick

Drums - Chubby Fresh

Those Who Fear Tomorrow (OG Mix) [1991]

1. Den of Iniquity 

2. Micha: Those Who Fear Tomorrow

3. Die Hard

4. Lundgren / Crucifixion

5. Judgement Day 

6. Descent Into...

7. Darkness

8. Tempest 

9. In Contrast of Sin

10. Dawn of a New Apocalypse

11. Wings Tear

12. Harder They Fall

13. Candra Nama Vijayasya Stripum's Calayast

14. Apollyon's Whisper

15. March of the Damned

all across the country there's people just like me... whose set out to destroy human life

Jane - A Doorway to Elsewhere

 

Jane is a metalcore band based out of Duisburg, Germany. Formed in 1997, Jane released 1 demo, 2 EPs and 3 albums throughout their duration as a band. This post is meant to highlight their 1998 debut full length, A Doorway to Elsewhere... Nothing new is to be said about this album, absolute classic front to back. There are even genuine deathcore elements that increase the intensity of this release. Metalcore at some of its meanest and most manic. 

A Doorway to Elsewhere... (1998)

1. Intro

2. Feeling Numb to the Carnage Around Me

3. God Failed

4. Four - Der Sog Des Lebens

5. The Cost of False Sight

6. Reale Welt

7. Ich - Spielzeug Des Todes

8. A Doorway to Elsewhere

maybe we'll tear your soul apart...