Photo Credit: Jonathan Weiner
nothing, nowhere., aka Joe Mulherin, is a man of minimalistic pleasures. Isolating himself in his remote, Vermont-based barn to track his fifth-full length VOID ETERNAL, with a tranquil backdrop of a snowy winter wilderness, you would think the record would take the shape of his earlier works. Take sophomore album Reaper, where nothing,nowhere. used to hide behind a mask, clenched fists and his spread-out hand in a midst of obscurity, buried in his DIY Soundcloud rooted days. Or his fourth full-length Trauma Factory, a genreless body of work fuelled by the pain and suffering of human life: the trauma, the upset and the agony screaming to get out of the four walls closing in quicker than a flash flood.
VOID ETERNAL, however, is the apex of all of nothing, nowhere.’s albums. The intense, emotional rap-rock meets the adsolencent nostalgia of nothing, nowhere.’s historic emo heroes and his mutual respect for modern powerhouses in metal. With tracks littered with capital letters, numbers and underscores, VOID ETERNAL sees Mulherin present the existential crisis that is your life on his heaviest record to date.
Album opener ANX13TY channels the unease, fear and worry that can riddle a human being, as the cathartic outpouring of expression and riff driven guitars build up to a viciously heavy breakdown that rivals any established metal band. Just like going to a therapist to vent about your innermost struggles, ANX13TY is a place to put your anger, your rage and your frustrations for three minutes straight.
“It seems like it just can’t be a coincidence that I was in middle school with a Walkman Disc Player listening to Let It Unfold You and Infinity on High then releasing songs with its curators. It’s a bizarre concept, one which I’ve given up on trying to make sense of any of it. Right now, I’m just riding a wave.” Riding a wave of pure nostalgia is something we’re sure his teenage, Walkman, baggy pants-wearing self would be passing out about. There’s the synonymous, snarling growls of Lorna Shore’s hellraiser Will Ramos on TRAG3GY, the colliding of heads and explosive, screaming showdown between Mulherin and SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY’s Connie Sgarbossa in PSYCHO_PSYCHIATRY. The garage-style breakdowns and rap attitude of THIRST4VIOLENCE featuring Silverstein’s Shane Told (the singer repaying the favour after Mulherin’s guest spot on the band’s track Live Like This), that caused mosh pit carnage when no one knew the words. Not forgetting the collab with emo rap royalty Freddie Dredd and the impactful, spoken word bridge tones offered up by certified nothing, nowhere. fanboy and Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz on CYAN1DE.
Elsewhere, Static Dress’ Oli Appleyard and nothing, nowhere. scream of their sorrows into a distant void on F0RTUNE_TELLER, Senses Fail’s Buddy Neilson delivers a collision of cleans and screams on M1SERY_SYNDROME, and the gargantuan force that is Underoath’s Spencer Chamberlin is a snake poised to inject its prey full of its life draining venom, on the aptly titled VEN0M. Spencer’s vicious screams piercing through the song’s skin twenty seconds from its brutal end.
Like oxygen pouring into your lungs, CHR0MAKILLER, SUICIDE_PACT, ER4SER and closer MEMORY_FRACTURE are the sonic breathing space VOID ETERNAL is gasping for. Whilst the lyrics make you contemplate life in all its extremities, from the pain to the pleasure and the memories you will cherish forever, to the ones you would much rather forget about for all eternity, nothing, nowhere.’s light and airy vocals take you to a state of self-serenity. They leave you there in a complex daze, while the ethereal guitar transmissions and decadent crushing distortions bring you back down into reality.
Combining the power of collaboration, strengthening the connection with his community and coming to terms with embracing his true authentic self, VOID ETERNAL sees nothing, nowhere. release a game changing record that represents the Soundcloud days that made him and the alternative scene that defined him.
10/10
Standout Tracks: M1SERY_SYNDROME, CYAN1DE, THIRST4VIOLENCE, TRAG3DY, F0RTUNE_TELLER, ANX13TY.
For Fans Of: KENNYHOOPLA, guccihighwaters, sad eyes
Written by: Katie Conway-Flood
