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Album Review

VOSH – ‘Vessel’ [Album Review]

Highlighted by the irresistibly alluring, hypnotic voice of Josephine Olivia, VOSH’s ‘Vessel’ (Trash Casual Records) is harmonically complex and oh-so-severely superior.

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Vosh ‘Vessel’ album artwork

Vessel, the debut album from VOSH, might be seen as blending tinctures of darkwave and synth-pop; yet, such a description doesn’t fully communicate the dramatic force of the band’s sound, one more correctly defined as Goth/industrial metal with whiffs of new wave.

VOSH consists of Josephine Olivia (vocals, instrumentation), Chris Moore (vocals, instrumentation), Pat Vogel (guitar, bass), and Tim Bean (live guitar). And, as engaging as the music on Vessel is, Olivia’s vocals suffuse the songs in deliciously wicked monomania, a spine-chilling distillation of primordialism.

Embracing a dozen tracks, Vessel begins with “Honey Moon,” featuring a Depeche Mode-like rhythm, only more visceral and punchy as Olivia’s Medusa-laced tones imbue the lyrics with tiny hooks of beautiful-monster modulations.

Speaking subjectively, entry points include “Pray,” with its dark, thrumming layers of guitars and luminous synth accents reminiscent of Rob Zombie. Dreamy yet dripping with edgy nuances, Olivia’s hedonistic timbres fill the lyrics with gilded, spinetingling sensuality.

Opening on dark, oozing synths, “Superstition” rides booming percussion topped by thick, menacing coloration as Olivia’s voice delivers unctuously forbidding intonations, akin to the taunting beckoning of the Serpent in the Garden of Eden, at once iniquitous and electrifyingly tempting.

Vosh

Vosh

Blending elements of punk, new wave, and Goth, “Devout” pushes forth on sleazy, smarmy synths rumouring Ghost, pulsing with tones of sepulchral gravity. Vocal ascensions, like chirruping blips, give Olivia’s voice necromancer inflections, adding to the eeriness.

Viscous, heaving synths load “The Static” with taut, foreboding washes of malevolence, pervading the harmonics with consuming animal appetites. While the final track, “Numb,” rolls out on pulsating shadows, glistening with great, irregular clots of shiny lilts. The thumping kick drum infuses the rhythm with pulverizing thuds as chugging guitars envelop the tune in solidified, umbral oomph.

Highlighted by the irresistibly alluring, hypnotic voice of Josephine Olivia, Vessel is harmonically complex and oh so severely superior.

Vessel Track Listing:

1. Honey Moon
2. Pray
3. Bleed as One
4. Superstition
5. Perfection
6. Devout
7. Cruel Intent
8. 2F8CD
9. Falling
10. The Static
11. Night
12. Numb

Run Time: 42:41
Release Date: March 3, 2023
Record Label: Trash Casual Records

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