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REVIEW – A month or so ago, I was listening to And Nothing Else by ATOMS AND VOID. I found myself around half way thru, sort of lost and not really getting it. So, I put the CD to the side and went on to other CDs. A few days ago, I was talking to someone and decided to give the album a 2nd chance. The weirdest thing, I could not stop listening to it. Once the album ended, I found myself wanting to go back to listen to the tracks again. The key word to this band is patience. While ATOMS AND VOID are a relatively new band on the scene, And Nothing Else showcases a band that seems to know more than any new artist I have encountered recently. Artie Carstens and Eric Fisher are the two members, so I guess one is Atoms and the other one is Void. And Nothing Else has a slew of special guests including Nate Mendel (Sunny Day Real Estate, Foo Fighters, Juno, Lieutenant), Gabe Carter (Juno), Jay Clarke (Pretty Girls Make Graves, Jaguar Love), Cory Murchy (Minus the Bear), Morgan Henderson (Blood Brothers, Fleet Foxes, Cave Singers), Rosie Thomas (Sufjan Stevens), Eric Akre (Treepeople, Built To Spill, Juno), Joel Cuplin (Constant Lovers, Triumph of Lethargy), Josh Myers (The Fire Theft, Jeremy Enigk, Rosie Thomas), Drew O’Doherty (Ted Leo & the Pharmacists), Griffin Rodriguez (Icy Demons, Need New Body), Toshi Kasai (Melvins, Big Business, Lieutenant), Kory Kruckenberg (J. Tillman, The Revenant), Jenna Conrad (Avians Alight, Damien Jurado), and Lena Simon (Pollens, La Luz, Kairos).
And Nothing Else could be seen as the alternative version of what these metal units like Metal Allegiance does. Every track on this album showcases such a passion and depth of heart. The record is a weird hybrid of rock and ambience. Where the songs just grow on you, the more you listen to them. If you know someone who enjoys a twist to their classic music, this album offers that and so much more. The one thing I found myself thinking about, what how unpredictable this album truly was. You truly never feel like the music is redundant or trying to be something it truly is not. The music comes across as honest and most of all, cinematic and dream inspired. This is the album that will win you over, if you let it. I think my first listen I saw the impressive list of people involved and wanted something that this album clearly was not. Then, when I would play it again, I realized that this album is such a simple pleasure and that it brings you to a place that no journey you go on this year could bring you towards. This is a journey that when music is done right, it is just simple a beautiful and amazing thing. This band has won me over and I hope to see more things from them.
More info can be found on ATOMS AND VOID at:
www.AtomsAndVoid.com
www.Facebook.com/AtomsAndVoid
www.Instagram.com/AtomsAndVoid
