The Australian metal scene is thriving right now and this collaboration between Void of Vision and Thornhill’s Jacob Charlton on a reimagined version of ‘Year of The Rat’ further solidifies the scene’s strength. The original track can be found on the riff laden album Hyperdaze, released in 2019 and was not released as a single at the time. Frontman Jack Bergin explains the reason why the band decided to release the track now in 2021 – “Year of The Rat’ was written for those who have reached their expiry date, for the weak that have finally been weeded out. Watching an undeserving individual have a position of ‘power’ stripped from them has been a common theme throughout the year 2020, this song goes out to them.” The addition of Jacob Charlton’s powerful cleans cutting through the brutal riffs on this track provide a perfect contrast between heavy and beauty without sounding cheesy or overdone. It’s great to see bands that have grown up together in a scene working with each other to drive each other forwards. The track is accompanied by a suitably violent and captivating video which pits the two frontmen against each other in a bare-knuckle fist fight to the death. One thing that is for sure though is that this scene is very much alive.
” Watching an undeserving individual have a position of ‘power’ stripped from them has been a common theme throughout the year 2020, this song goes out to them.”
– Jack Bergin, Void Of Vision
Words by Singh Lottay.
Post-Punk Press 