Void Of Silence
Criteria Ov 666

"You say it is the good cause that sanctifies even war? I tell you: it is the good war that sanctifies every cause."

In 2002, finally supported by our own Code666, the second chapter of the trilogy by Void Of Silence was released, a band from Ostia with extreme sounds, born from a visionary imagination, expressed through a very slow, cold doom metal, laced with synthesizers and the harsh vocals of Malfeitor Fabban, already the mind behind Aborym.

The second chapter catapults us in medias res into the center of the conflict, among increasing war samples (present as a background in more and more tracks) and a martial atmosphere perceptible at every moment. However, it would be deeply reductive to define this album as a concept about war. Criteria Ov 666 represents the fresco of a mind marked by conflict, by struggle, which progressively detaches itself from the world, gradually becoming inhuman. The music perfectly reflects the sense of alienation that the lyrics (finally present in the booklet) place before the listener: it could be said that the war theme represents only a pretext (or rather a symbol) of this entirely inner turmoil.

On the other hand, Void Of Silence brings to mind a series of images that could very well fit with the perverse figures that marked the history of the 20th century (in fact, the concept behind the trilogy should be a symbolic revisitation of the Second World War): for example, in the sinister sermon "Opus IV: Anthem For Doomed Youth", which eerily recalls (certainly amplifying) the indoctrination speeches at the base of 20th-century totalitarianisms. The band is in a state of grace, reaching unattainable heights for most groups; if the subsequent 'Human Antithesis' will reach greater emotional peaks than 'Criteria', also thanks to more painful themes related to the post-war period, it is true that it is in this album that the supreme art of Void Of Silence is embodied.

First of all, the album is varied and heterogeneous, mixing apocalyptic folk, war marches, very slow and minimal doom, and really impressive noise bursts. Great work also on the vocal performance, capable of switching from theatrical recitation to clean choruses, passing, as expected, through scream parts that are never banal and predictable. Another note on the thematic level (since for the music it's better to listen directly to get an idea): Criteria moves within Anger and Solitude, interesting but not entirely new coordinates; what is innovative is the angle from which these issues are addressed, double. Solitude and Fear are seen as the cause of the internal Conflict that shakes the soul and generates terror and disorder in the world (symbolized by tyranny): so far the condemnation. But from another point of view, there is also identification with this power, with this pain that leads to abandoning and cursing the world, a feeling that all of us have experienced at least once in our lives. Condemnation and Understanding, Love and Madness unite to generate a masterpiece, both musically and conceptually. If the humanity of VOS cannot understand the reasons that generate the pain in the world, it understands very well the consequences of this situation. It is the voice of it.

Towards the end of the album, we find another significant track (but indeed searching for a better piece would be impossible), especially for the ways in which the conceptual aspect merges with the musical one: "Opus VII: Victory!" represents the detachment from the world, its final defeat. The track takes on the air of a long, mechanical and cold triumphal march: Fabban's voice is veiled by a "robot" effect that makes it metallic, detached in pronouncing "Victory! For our freedom ‘till the end of time." It seems like a pantomime of a vermiform being, free and soulless at the same time.

'Cryteria Ov 666' is the most difficult album in the group's meager discography; long (50 minutes are hard to endure in an atmosphere like that of the album) and exhausting, but it offers a pearl with every song. It is a studied and intelligent product, able to transform some metal clichés into cerebral and complex moments with uncommon sensitivity; it scares much more than the albums linked to similar sounds because it represents a truly disturbing and sincere look inside oneself, especially because it is the result of a band of mature people, who have long since passed the adolescent period.

Together with the subsequent 'Human Antithesis' it is the album that best represents Italy in the extreme field, not only equaling the accounts with more renowned scenes and groups but in some cases bringing itself to a higher level.