Metal-Hardcore Fusion
In 1995, after a handful of demos, New York hardcore band Vision of Disorder released their first EP, Still. After initially breaking up in 2002, the band reunited in 2008 and has put out new music as recently as 2012’s The Cursed Remain Cursed. It has been twenty years since its release, and Vision of Disorder’s style of metal-injected hardcore remains a powerful influence for todays hardcore bands. To celebrate this anniversary and their continued influence on the scene, Vision of Disorder has re-released Still with two bonus tracks previously only found on the special edition Spanish import of the album.
Still opens with “Through My Eyes,” a perfectly heavy and catchy hardcore song – there is no question how Vision of Disorder became known as the hardcore classics that they are. The clean vocals at the beginning of “Choke” are momentarily startling, but this uncertainty doesn’t last long as screamed chants of “V.O.D” remind you of exactly the kind of record you’re listening to. The two highlights on the record are, ironically, the two bonus tracks that were not on the initial release of Still. “No Regrets” is one of the best examples of Vision of Disorder’s impressive knack for combining metal and hardcore, leaving you banging your head off of your shoulders, and “Formula for Failure” is a truly heavy and perfect end for this brief but powerful record.
Classic 1990s hardcore is a sound that will always be beloved by many hardcore fans and Vision of Disorder is smart to cash in on this long-lasting interest in their style of music. It may have been twenty years since Still was released, but this record still packs a hell of a punch. Old fans of Vision of Disorder will be happy to have a rerelease of a favorite album, and hopefully young fans just discovering the genre will come across this in the New Releases section of their favorite record store and get transported back to such an exciting era in hardcore.