Vacuous – ‘In His Blood’ [Album Review]

If you have been to a metal club show or festival in London over the past 5 years, there is a very good chance you will have seen Vacuous live. In 2022, they went from being one of London’s best-kept secrets to being in many people’s top 10 albums of the year with the release of the fantastic Dreams Of Dysphoria. Although this album firmly put them on the radar, it was clearly a sign of potentially bigger and better things to come. And so to 2025 and the band’s much-anticipated second full-length release, we can sit back and bathe in the glory of a group who have taken their most significant leap forward to date.

What Vacuous have done on In His Blood is grow into their skin with a sound and tone of their own. Taking influence from across the extreme metal spectrum and stamping their mark on it, nothing about this record feels rehashed or tired. This is a 30-minute assault of brilliantly executed, well-paced and ambitious metal guts and gore that sounds like a band taking risks in trying to progress themselves forward. The production is sharp and meticulous, each song getting its own space to build and exist without ever feeling rushed. They steadily craft these uncomfortable yet often melodic moments, followed by waves of complex, crushing riffs and anxiety-inducing breakdowns.

What this record does brilliantly is separate all eight songs into their own unique moments, in doing so, there’s no suggestion of this ever feeling like one long laboured listen; it’s an intriguing journey that doesn’t overstay its welcome. Singer Jo Chen really steps out of the shadows on this record and showcases his full range of vocal talents, which wasn’t so prevalent on their previous album, Dreams Of Dysphoria. From forrest howls to punk oi’s, guttural horror tones to Transylvanian screeching, he can do it all. Lyrically, this record tackles some devastating topics, including school shootings, the death of migrants and global economic division. Such harrowing subject matter is perfectly reflected in this record’s anger, sadness and trauma.

It’s tough when so many sub-genres are melded together in this way to define it as one thing, and it would be truly lazy to call this a death metal record. There are moments of death, black and speed metal, punk, d-beat, hardcore and even glimmers of shoegaze along the way. Every thirty-minute run-through of this record feels explorative and engaging, and it’s exciting to hear such a young band with so much clear ambition. From here, my biggest hope is that they continue pushing the boundaries of creating heavy music, and what follows is just as inspirational and unpredictable as this.

In His Blood Track Listing:

1. In His Blood
2. Stress Positions
3. Hunger
4. Flesh Parade
5. Public Humiliation
6. Contraband
7. Immersion
8. No Longer Human

Run Time: 31:51
Release Date: February 28, 2025
Record Label: Relapse Records