Voster - World War V

Einstein once famously reported that "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.".
Amping the whole concept to 11 is "Supergroup" Voster, who are far more concerned with World War V, seemingly instigated and fought by Voster - the dominant and aggressive looking female on the artworks cover.

A fun concept, the project is the brand new creation of Scott Fox (iVardensphere),Jamie Blacker (E.S.A.) and Yann Faussurier (Iszoloscope, Memmaker). Unknown to anyone until their surprise announcement for Resistanz 2013 (which will be the projects first live show), the first material we really get to hear from this group (minus the track on DWA's official festival compilation) is rooted in their Noisy, IDM infused backgrounds.

Beginning with a song that has a great title - "Multi Purpose Saws", Voster take just 5 seconds to emphasise what makes this amalgamation of talent so supreme - this is produced to high heaven with intense bass, excellent hooks and leads, and far more importantly for me, it generates strong, strong interest in a genre that I've always struggled to fall for. Memmaker's influence is immediate, but in truth you could easily trace the ancestry of each artist's previous works.

Importantly for Voster, everything is done to the right specs, with Jamie's vocals both concise and dominant, yet never undermining or compromising the music. The production, which is so good it needs a second mention, carries the strength of the track with the same kind of weight that Atlas would have used to support this planet.

For me, the mystery that shrouded Voster was intriguing since their announcement in the 11th hour of the festival unveiling - short of knowing the line-up, Voster was as secretive as secretive does - and I can see why this was revealed in such a way - the impact from this is akin to a fist-sized meteor in the side of the head; take track two "Head to Heels In Steel".

Built around some fucking serious melody, the vocals on here are excellent, mostly spoken, and the lyrics are top-notch. I have to admit, I missed Resistanz 2012 and was gutted that I didn't get to see Memmaker and ESA, so this year I do get to see Yann on stage, along with Jamie, and of course Scott. If they can pull this track off live with even half the energy, then we've got one of the bands of the weekend.

"V Dependent" is more Martial in its welcomings, turning into a Noisy number, retaining initial Discipline. It doesn't take long to build into my favourite track on the release, full of Bass, and although I was expecting big, I didn't expect the group to be THIS impressive. One of the taboos for me is using the term "Renaissance" in respect to a particular sub-genre, but as Rhythmic, Instrumental Noise has always been something I've struggled with, this evolution of it (complete with first class vocal work) has completely opened my eyes.

"World War V" starts off radically different to the trilogy of tracks that precede it, rendering it immediately memorable - Voster say it best with the first lines of the song :-
"If you're not into this, Fuck you". Perhaps the best mark to leave on anyone who doesn't rate the project, it's one of several moments on the release where you can sample a 30 second piece of music at random and be left recoiling.

"Takeover" is the aforementioned track that features on the DWA Resistanz compilation, which closes the EP nicely - although for me, it isn't one of my favourites on here.

It doesn't really matter at this point though, this release from opening note to closing seconds is absolutely textbook - I'd really want to see the live set and hear a full album to grasp a final decision, but based on this, I've fallen for Voster, and i'm pretty sure that she's just gonna whip me as I go down, keeping me slave to everything Voster does.

I'm not sure I want to change that. Mar 23 2013