V0id - Keep Fighting Album Review

Following their previous albums 'Ballads For Beauties And Beasts' and 'Zer0', Welsh classic rock band V0iD are back with their third album ‘Keep Fighting’. Its produced by Tim Hammill, who has worked with Lemmy, GirlSchool and Ronnie James Dio, the album is released this summer alongside a string of live dates throughout the UK and Europe.

Based on its title as a theme, third album ‘Keep Fighting’ sees the band work though personnel changes, and gain inspiration from various stories of human endurance: A close friend of the band who battled against leukaemia for ten years whilst raising over £25k for charity, a fan in Holland who suffered a brain tumour, taking strength from V0iD’s music whilst in recovery, and their own drummer Gary Doyle, who had major knee surgery followed by a long period of rehab and physiotherapy, not knowing whether he’d be able to drum again.

I’ve not heard any of their previous output, but, straight out of the blocks ‘Keep Fighting' has this marching drum vibe, and I must admit that its not normally my cup of tea, but the V0id lads seem to have a slow burn way of drawing you in, such is the quality of the hooks coupled with instantly hummable choruses.

To be fair, V0id have the corking ‘Let Me In’ as the lead single, but the fact is, most of these songs on offer could be picked as future nuggets. Songs range from the soaring ‘In The End’, the powerful ballad ‘Forever Girl’ to the anthemic ‘For The Soul’, to the haunting melody of ‘Starting Again’. ‘How Come’ to a point sounds very much like Tyketto and anyone that can cite this band certainly gets my attention, and praise. The gem for me though is the first single (and hopefully of many) ‘Let Me In’. It reminds me of a very unknown (?) rock band from the 80s called Diving For Pearls. Unless you’re a DFP band member or a lover of Klassik 80s AOR then you’ll never get the reference. All I can tell you is that its high praise indeed!

V0id are more pop-rock than out and out rock, but I think 'Keep Fighting' is firmly set in the musical realm of FM friendly music that lots of people can enjoy, and not just bitter old rockers with a narrow mind to anything other than metal. V0id seem like they are a guilty pleasure, but thats not the case for me. I'll stick my head above the parapet and proclaim that V0id are a new fave band, are definitely underrated, but very talented indeed.

As I said previously, I’d not heard their previous 2 albums, but I’ll be putting that right immediately. V0id are going places, and in my estimation, its only in one direction, ans that's UP!

Da Iawn!

SCORE 88/100

Tracklisting -

Keep Fighting

Not The One

Forever’s Yesterday

In The End

Forever Girl

Where Have You Been

Let Me In

For The Soul

Starting Again

How Come

Say My Name

Little Things

Practice Run