v01d – Greeted As Liberators (CD Album – Artoffact Records)

Genre/Influences: Crossover, electro-rock, pop-rock.

Background/Info: Joe Byer got some name as live keyboardist for Ayria. But he also is the instigator behind this v01d. After a debut album in 2009 (cf. “This Is Not A False Alarm Anymore”) and the “Weakener”-EP featuring Ayria it all looked like v01d had disappeared. Joe Byer is finally back on track unleashing a new opus, which is a bit like a new beginning.

Notice by the way that another album entitled “Prototype” has been released as well. Both albums are available as DCD.

Content: v01d seems to like electronics mixed with heavy guitar parts. That’s indeed the essence of this new work, which is a kind of pure crossover. It now sounds more into rock-pop and next a bit ambient as well. I also noticed a few psychedelic guitar passages. The vocals by Joe Byer are a bit like a chameleon and totally flex to the main influence running through a song.

+ + + : I especially like the debut songs of the album revealing a perfect harmony between electronics and guitar. It’s a cool rock-pop style revealing the somewhat Depeche Mode inspired “Hoof To The Sky” and the raw-sounding “Abhor A Vacuum”. v01d sounds like having composed an album without compromises, but just exorcising his very own ideas. Joe Byer also reveals to be a very talented singer.

– – – : After a real exciting debut part the instrumental “Veils Will Fall” is a real break announcing a different final part, which becomes less convincing and sometimes experimenting with psychedelic guitar passages.

Conclusion: v01d is back on tracks and that’s rather interesting as this band offers a unique alternative to the contemporary bands, which often have lost their inspiration. This album is however missing a potential hit and a few more noticeable songs. I’m convinced there’s much more potential in this artist than what came out on “Greeted As Liberators”.

Best songs: “Abhor A Vacuum”, “All The Rage”.

Rate: (6).

Band: www .facebook .com /v 01 dmusic

Label: www .artoffact .com / www .facebook .com /artoffact

Since you’re here …

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The donations are safely powered by Paypal.