Void Bringer have kept moving since No Echo last checked in. What started as a two-person studio project has become a band in constant motion, navigating lineup shifts, releasing music at a steady pace, and helping bring attention to Vermont's hardcore scene.
Eight years after their demo, Void Bringer's catalog spans a 7", a 5", several cassettes, and a full-length LP. Next up is a new EP, set for cassette release during their West Coast run, along with a retrospective CD gathering over 50 tracks from across their history.
"It has been a minute," Andrew tells No Echo. "There's been quite a lot that's gone down with the band since 2018. In a way, we're a relic of the 'Before Times.'" The music has stayed uncompromising, even as the lineup has shifted repeatedly. "Void Bringer started out as a two-piece studio project and has since morphed into an endeavor that's had 11 different configurations since 2019," he says.
The current lineup includes Andrew, original drummer Matt Severson (now on bass), Rhys Williams, who switches between guitar and bass, drummer Elliott Lester, and guitarist Hank Isabelle.
One thing that hasn't changed is Void Bringer's connection to 625 Thrashcore, the label founded by my old friend, Max Ward (Spazz, Scholastic Deth, Plutocracy). "We've been fortunate to have worked with 625 Thrashcore since the inception of the band," Andrew says. "Max Ward has been a consistent collaborator."
Andrew also credits Blast for Humanity, Nuclear Ass Records, and his own label, Second Republic, for supporting Void Bringer's releases.
For Andrew, the band's core message remains unchanged. "In truth, we haven't evolved lyrically," he says.
"Void Bringer has always been a weapon, and if you know us, it's pretty clear what the targets are. The bullshit keeps piling on, so we keep going." He sees the band's main growth in how they execute their music. "We've tightened up musically. The evolution may not be in the sound, but in the precision and intensity."
Void Bringer might have started out as a local project, but the band has grown far beyond its original scope. "When we started off, it was supposed to be a local thing more or less," Andrew says. "Now we're spreading Green Mountain Powerviolence across the damn planet."
Void Bringer's growth has mirrored a wider resurgence in Vermont's hardcore community. "When we started, the scene up here—as was the case for many smaller scenes—was in its Dark Ages," Andrew recalls. "The joke was, 'Vermont hardcore: 30 to enter, 35 to play.'"
While Bands like The Path, Voices in Vain, and Gone Wrong kept the scene going, Andrew points to a full resurgence in the years after the pandemic. Since the pandemic, there's been a complete rejuvenation. There are new bands, new kids at every show—so much so that my old ass can't even keep up at this point."
He names Cooked, Fifth World, Rotting in the Chapel, Ordh, Outnumbered, Skin Tight, Blossom, Corrupt World, and Dead Street Dreamers as bands pushing Vermont hardcore forward, and also remembers Split in Half.
Andrew also points to a strong DIY community in their backyard. "There's a really sick thing going on down on the New Hampshire Seacoast and into southern Maine right now," he says, crediting local organizer Ben Cole with helping foster a flourishing grind and powerviolence scene that includes Self Love, Headcase, Youth in Asia, Zinc, Qualms, Collapsed Skull, and Microplastic Contamination.
For Andrew, Void Bringer was never about chasing success or reinventing powerviolence. "Void Bringer are a band of working dirtbags," he says. "We don't have any illusions of changing anything or reinventing any wheels, but we do what we do because it's compulsive, if nothing else."
Void Bringer's mission has stayed the same since the beginning:
"We have a consistent message: take care of yourselves, and take care of each other. No one is coming to save you from this dismal tide of techno-feudalism."
Andrew sums up Void Bringer's perspective with one last image. "It's not about saving anything anymore," he says. "It's about watching Rome burn from the hills with your homies, your fellow dogs."
If you're on the West Coast, Void Bringer will be hitting the road for a few dates at the end of July into August along with Kodak Courage and Fifth World.
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