Minus The Bear Offers Some Tasty Riffs In "VOIDS"

Rock music and electronic music have been evolving together over the past few years. Both influence the other, and they often comingle in great ways. Alternative rock band Minus The Bear have offered up some tasty riffs in their new album VOIDS, the effected guitars and depressed melodies working to make some interesting tracks.

The album starts on a poppier note than the rest of the album really embodies. 'Last Kiss' has a cool guitar intro to bring the record to a punchy start, the choruses having a signature pop rock sound that rings optimistically and offers some good vibes to bring the record in on. This feeling isn't really carried out throughout the record, which moves on to some darker and moodier ideas past this first track.

A lot of the first half of the record feels lacking. There's definitely a lot of energy, but that energy seems to leak out in ways that aren't the most efficient. The track 'Invisible' is essentially a pop punk track, and it just feels out of place on the album. It's not even very polished up either, and almost feels downright childish. The track preceding it, 'Call The Cops,' has a certain emptiness to it, like it's lacking something. It's a pretty track, but it doesn't have everything it needs to make it a good track.

The second half of the record, however, is what this record is all about. The groove is brought in 'Silver' in fantastic ways. The verses are driven with the same feeling of driving down an ocean road during a sunset, while the choruses and sparkly and feature some ghostly guitar leads to accentuate the low vocals. The song slowly builds up, becoming bigger and more energetic as it goes, culminating to an epic guitar solo in the bridge, exploding thereafter into a big jam section.

The end of the record follows the suit of 'Silver,' starting with the effected guitar riffs of 'Robotic Heart.' There's a lot of electronica revolving around in the background of the track, and the cool guitar riff helps accentuate the sort of experimental vibe the song has going for it. There's a very dark melody on this track that ties it all together, harmonies making them all the greater. The guitar solo in the bridge of the track is awesome, too. 'Lighthouse' closes the record on a similarly moody tone, but it feels more like a masquerade than a mission statement. It's dark, moody, and ends the album on a spiraling group of guitars, synths, and pounding drums.

Minus The Bear's VOIDS has two sides to it: a friendlier, perhaps more approachable side that doesn't feel complete, and a far more dark side that features a lot of interesting movements and great moods. It may take awhile to build up to a good momentum, but when it gets there, it really gets going.

Favorite Tracks: Silver, Robotic Heart, Lighthouse

Least Favorite Tracks: Invisible, Give & Take

Rating: 71 / 100

Buy or listen to VOIDS here: