Review: Void of Vision @ The Gov 21/02/25
Read on and discover everything that happened at Void of Vision’s last ever Adelaide gig.
Words by Will Oakeshott
Void Of Vision w/Gideon, Unity TX & Knosis @ The Gov 21/2/2025
As the distinguished idiom goes: “Perfect is the enemy of good,” and on this grand finale performance for the adored Melbourne melodic experimetalcore quartet Void Of Vision, their concluding chapter for Adelaide was the enemy of “good.” There were elements at this exceptional epilogue that reached the level of “perfect,” but that concept is thought to be elusive. However, one would be hard-pressed to find one member of this capacity crowd at The Gov on this night who would describe this show as only “good,” it was far superior to that characterisation. To be honest, “great” undersells it, “sensational” is approaching the correct representation.
Therefore, arguably the best description could be “magnificently memorable.”
On that note, the revelation that the four-piece’s final miraculous artistic offering to the alternative music world was an album entitled, What I’ll Leave Behind, is a perfect ending to their legacy.
Japan’s Knosis were the initiation into this probable once-in-a-lifetime event and the quartet were unwavering in determination to make their malicious electrocore mark known to the rapidly growing audience. With an immensely early start, the line-up to enter the venue was still vast to say the least, but this had no detrimental effect on these excellently enraged Tokyoites – they were marvellously maniacal from their first note.
“Yo wassup Adelaide? Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go…What the fuck?” vocalist and mastermind Ryo Kinoshita commanded in mystifying malice. Their introduction was instantaneous brilliant brutality, with the minute-long launch moving from nu metalcore enchantments to deathcore devastation and each member erupted in awe-inspiring athleticism.
‘星砕 (Seisai)’ began as an electropunk flurry of luminosity, then displayed musical movements of trance, electropop, nu metal and metallic hardcore all in one. The live energy flawlessly matched the delightfully deranged fusion and the magnetism of the performers from the onlookers’ perspectives was unbreakable. ‘忌鬼(Imioni)’ was a composition King Yosef would become obsessed with, ‘神喰(Kamigurai)’ had that earth-shattering heaviness that could have awoken zombies for an apocalypse and the cover of ‘Davidian’ by Machine Head sensationally scarred all there to witness this fantastic frenzy.
The more melodic moments were beloved but also lost the monstrous momentum ever-so-slightly. Thankfully ‘Fuhai’ and ‘Yakusai (厄災)’ harnessed that psychosis that maintained the insanity at eleven out of ten, especially when Ryo decided the audience required him on the dancefloor with them and utilised the bass drum as gym equipment. An album and headline tour are an unmistakable requirement.
UnityTX brought a different sound and aura to this show and in their aggression, there was undoubtedly a lot to be intrigued by. Frontman Jay Webster was ferocious in his presence – it was thrillingly threatening and left the witnesses stunned and mesmerised. Upon walking onto the Gov’s platform, he vehemently exclaimed: “We have two shows left in Australia, don’t be the one that sucks,” quickly followed by, “Don’t be a fucking bitch.”
He had Adelaide’s undivided attention.
‘Cross Me’ possessed the rocking virtuosity of HYRO DA HERO with a metallic makeover, ‘Playing Favourites’ was a nu metalcore haymaker, ‘Roc Sh!t’ blended hip hop and heaviness masterfully, then ‘Fake Luv’ exhibited a sensational synthesis of Terror and Fox Lake that both Jay and the eager attendees adored so fanatically, that they engaged “ninja-mosh” mode due to its infectious intensity.
‘BURNOUT’ had a Loathe eeriness that undoubtedly made it a highlight and ‘Diamond Diez’ was a peculiar industri-evil love song that displayed the outfit at their most remarkably radical.
As powerful as the presentation was, it did possess that “shock factor” that might take people aback to a degree; however, the fervency of The Gov was unquestionably shatterproof at this juncture.
If this scribe was to be unashamedly honest, Alabama’s Gideon was in all probability the main drawcard for this exposition. Their cowboy-driven nu metal moshcore concoction is downright delectable in its eccentricity and although it might come across a bit “cheesy,” especially lyrically, that Gideon cheeseburger requires an extra slice of “breakdown brie” (brieakdown?) with a dousing of Alabama’s white BBQ sauce. Brutantalising.
The country music was blasting during the entirety of the quartet’s stage setup and sound check, it was only silenced when the siren riffs of ‘No Love/No One’ leapt out of the amps and vocalist Daniel McWhorter bellowed, “YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELF,” in his cattleman’s crease cowboy hat facing the fanatics front-on. Giddy-up, it is about to get buck wild and rowdy.
‘Locked Out Of Heaven’ was a horse buck to the face for South Australia who responded with excessive elation (“you’re all mad cunts” was uttered by the four-piece). ‘Push It Back’ would have impressed moshcore pioneers Bury Your Dead, ‘Too Much Is Never Enough’ exhibited the most spectacular tackiest breakdown moves with drumstick twirls and ninja kicks that it was breathtaking.
A wall of death was necessary for ‘More Power More Pain’, ‘Take Off’ featured DJ scratches and eerie nu metal murmurs, ‘Take Me’ was colossal and profound, and then ‘Cursed’ brought out Knosis’ Ryo Kinoshita who, to-be-frank, stole the show.
‘Bite Down’ was of cyclonic magnitude in heaviness that provoked an ambience of severity – for a powerful period, Gideon was of a different menacing identity. When it all concluded, McWhorter lifted his hat in appreciation and Lynard Skynard’s ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ washed a calmness over The Governor Hindmarsh. Hopefully, LP number seven is only a season away.
Aerosmith’s ‘I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing’, Robbie Williams’ ‘Angels’ and Goo Goo Dolls’ ‘Iris’ all blasted through the sound system. These emotional anthems may have been deliberate, only a handful of people would know, the most important being Jack Bergin, James McKendrick, Mitch Fairlie and George Pfaendner – better known as Void Of Vision. The scene was set and it was going to be a charismatic chronicle.
Bergin arrived on stage in a mask alone in darkness, the spotlight solely on him, as if a Broadway musical theatre was about to commence its first act. A dazzling soundtrack of electronica enhanced the atmosphere and Jack symbolically crooned his heartfelt poetry:
“This feeling creeps inside your bones,
I'm holding onto the hope that soon you'll know.
That if I'm gone you'll keep my soul,
And know and know and know.
That if you're not afraid to die,
Then what's the point of life?
The most beautiful things,
Are what I'll leave behind,
When I, when I die.”
The rest of VoV joined the enchanting frontman onstage and “OBLIVION!” was screamed – here came the chaos.
‘Blood For Blood’ evoked a lunacy The Prodigy would have marvelled at, ‘Berghain’ provoked the crowd surfers to elevate and sing-alongs to become deafening and ‘Into The Dark’ emitted a soundtrack and visual entity similar to the rave party at Zion in The Matrix Revolutions. An eager aficionado even climbed one of the bar beams at The Gov to ensure they could absorb this divine spectacle.
‘Neurotic’ amplified the party vibe with a disco-metal-funk that the fans relished dancing to, ‘HELL HELL HELL’ was a drum’n’bass blast that bordered on madness in the most majestic fashion, and then ‘Gamma Knife’ pulled at all the heartstrings in the room. The reality of the situation was actually becoming foreseeable. This was Void Of Vision’s last Adelaide dance.
‘Angel Of Darkness’ was a trance-driven delight in a counteractive spirit to the lyrical subject matter, ‘Kill All My Friends/Year Of The Rat’ incited the heavenly harshness of heavy metal, 'SUN//RISE' was a ravishing nod of respect to Counterparts, which ‘Ghost In The Machine’ uplifted immaculately and ‘Nightmare’ bolstered all of these factors to a higher echelon.
‘Midnight Sweat’ returned to the latter part of VoV’s career and drummer George Pfaendner put on a solo that moved the earth below everyone within the venue. ‘ALTAR’ exemplified this earthquake and ‘The Lonely People’ became the terroriffic tidal movements from all of this. Frontman Jack Bergin was literally riding these waves as he climbed atop his devoted admirers over the stage barrier.
An encore was essential, and Jack gave a speech that burned a hole through the hearts of everyone present in the best way possible. He discussed the four-piece playing at Enigma Bar, The Underground and Fowler’s Live, and he profusely thanked Adelaide for letting the band grind their teeth to the bone in our beautiful city.
“This is not the end, this is the beginning. There are 800 people here now, but we started by playing to 10 people. We built it up with your help because you gave smaller bands a chance, and that can keep happening. Australian heavy music has never ever been stronger than it is right now and that is BECAUSE OF YOU!
“Keep being you Adelaide because you are fucking beautiful.”
‘Empty’ wasn’t just performed, it was gifted to South Australia.
And perhaps, that was perfect.
