VOID CRUISER (from Finland) immediately pulled me back in time, about twenty-seven years. To 1995. This had me thinking alternative Rock/Metal. Santeri Salo has primarily very clean vocals and at times seems to channel MARILYN MANSON meets ALICE IN CHAINS lyrically. That's not a bad thing, but it IS a dated one for a new release.

I found the songs listenable but they didn't strike a nerve with me as 90's era Alt Rock/Metal wasn't my area of enjoyment. The guitar work of Villi Salo and Aniti Kauski-Laulaja was solid and the rhythm section of Lassi Tahtinen and Teemu Rantanen chugged along but once again I was struck with a "been there done that" feeling through most of the nine tracks on this release.

Some areas where "Call of the Void" actually called to me were track number two, "The Overgrower," where the transition from intense level to quiet contemplative and then back again, (occurring around the four-and-a-half-minute mark), gave that song some added depth to move it above vanilla sounding numbers like "Sleep through Winter". Additionally track number four, "Woe," started generic but the intensity it built to (especially the last minute of the song), enabled it to leap out of the lethargy that many of the numbers lulled me into. Another that popped right out of the gate was track number seven, "Pariah". Although I thought the drumming was somewhat pedestrian in this one, the guitar had more of a punchy style and the vocals were punctuated with more yelps, cries and pure emotional yells while still not losing the clean overall sound.

I believe VOID CRUISER is committed to their style. Like bands such as MOTHERSHIP, VOID CRUISER provide a spacy fuzziness as they tell their tales of (once again) mostly 90's era angst and sorrow. Track number six, "Wise Men," with such lyrics as, "I saw the end of the world as we know it." Or "I hear the call of the Void" both self-reflect and view the world at large with both inner and outer being found lacking and in need of change.

If there was a favorite track of the album, it was song number eight, "When Gravity Pulls." While still drowning in 90's Alt Metal self-flagellation lyrically, it did have the heaviest overall sound. This one rumbled along through its six-minute length with good consistent force and I enjoyed it throughout. Overall, if this is your style of music, or you just want to visit the past by listening to the present, you will find VOID CRUISER an enjoyable (even if not ultimately memorable) ride.