Miserylab - Void of Life

Western civilization is coming apart before our very eyes, from the teetering house of cards which is the EU to the apathetic protests on Wall Street there can be little doubt that what has gone on before cannot continue. While I've been observing these events and marveling at the cartoonish hubris of our leaders, Miserylab have made an entirely new record chronicling these wayward days. This new album is as caustically cynical as the music on it is viciously honed to a gleaming shine, listen to the words Porl's put down on this one and tell me you find much redeeming in humanity. There are sometimes songs which cut through it all and bring your feelings to the surface no matter how valiantly you've buried them. The second song on 'Void of Life' is such a number, in particular it's chorus: "And I'm so disappointed in you... and I'll never ever forgive you". If you are reading this, and you know who you are, this one's right from the heart. I'm sure others will no doubt have their own take on a track like "People" but the beauty of this one is how personalized it can be and also how it ascribes to the gloriously disillusioned world view of the band.

People are the sum of their failures.

The breakdown of systems, their eventual irrelevance and the sundering of ties. Here is Porl's latest; make no mistake there's some anger on 'Void of Life'. "What have you done, what have you done, what the hell have you done" I'd say is a nice jab at the economic apartheid we are now witnessing in our so-called 'developed' nations. The cutting of social services, the class warfare enacted with blatant disregard for the consequences and the cushy backroom dealings between the rich and powerful. If "Children of the Poor" isn't a searing indictment of the lies a coalition 'government' in the UK has proffered, I'll be quite surprised. You don't have to be clairvoyant to know just how much seething discontent is kept under wraps, pain has a way of manifesting, even if it's done via directionless rioting. Miserylab's music this time out acts as a powerful foil to the curls of acrid lyrical disdain.

It's getting tense out there, and so is this band. The arrangements are taut, the wordings curt. 'Void of Life' is far more focused than his previous efforts, the guitars are regimented and arranged to draw one into the fray gently... perhaps this was the plot but a lot of what's on here is undeniably catchy. Intensity sears at the end of this album with a track I would not have suspected could make it out of the lab: the gut-wrenching epic "Last Day". Not since The Cure did the song "The Top" has a musical outing ever left me feeling so drained. By the end of it, you'll find yourself lying on the floor wondering just what the hell is the point of anything anymore. It is impossible to play something after this record has ended, the tone demands a couple hours of silence to take in what you've just heard. If his last album, released a few scant months ago was an exposition on how Miserylab have evolved, this one's a full on descent into overpowering nadir. There's no wallowing or sentimental dreck, just a grim acceptance of what reality is. Escapism doesn't figure at all in the universe of Mr. King as these steely compositions plainly demonstrate.

A more current snapshot of life on Earth in 2011 for we, the have-nots, you will not find. He's bringing up cruel topics and making some very unpleasant observations. They also happen to be true so don't let the expertly crafted songwriting fool you, it's an ugly ugly planet we live on: full of self-serving bastards who'd throw their own mother off the lifeboat if it would give them an extra tin of baked beans. In spite of all this, do not lose all hope.. treasure those you hold dear and be grateful for what you have. It's going to get a lot worse before anything changes, keep your head down. Press on. Oct 06 2011