A diamond in the rough, from my vinyl vault: Dischord's Faith/Void split- a DC Hardcore masterpiece!

Cover to Faith side

When I was younger and diving into the treasure chest of punk rock's glorious past, along my way I like many other people of that age interested in that music, inevitably stumbled across Minor Threat. Arguably more interesting, or certainly at least equally interesting-- was when I looked on the back and noticed the small logo reading: Dischord Records.

So naturally, I was curious-- what label put this out!? Do they have more stuff like this!? Why this light-bulb hadn't struck my peers as well and/or more often, I have no clue! Next thing I knew, I was looking into the label and its amazing catalog of material, and at some point while digging around stumbled on this record; not realizing my new favorite album in this realm of hardcore would soon be more appropriately thought of as simply an all time favorite. Recently I made a little trip to Skinnies Records to pick up this classic split.

Faith and Void were two powerhouse D.C. hardcore bands in, and also rather different from each other as well. Part of what makes this record particularly intriguing is that though they might not have been the most groundbreaking bands of their time, within punk or hardcore-- but they were certainly different from most bands of their style. Even more so they were rather different from each other, making this an extremely neat pairing of groups for a split.

Faith side of lyrics sheet

Faith was a high-energy band fronted by a particularly striking front-man-- Alec Mackaye who gave off a rather sincere style of both his lyrics coupled with his aggressive delivery behind the mic. Faith was surprisingly at times rather melodic for a hardcore group, and what made them so unique was how well written their songs are, it's strange to bring up terms like poppy and dare I even say digestible, and yet strangely they also feel rather appropriate when Faith comes to mind.

When the record suddenly rips open with, "It's Time" and its grooving heavy riff, the energy just keeps building and mounting together-- until Alec belts out his grand declaration in the chorus with, "I'm gonna' make society bleed!" Its very interesting that this opening song is actually quite slow for this band; yet the bar for the level of intensity on the whole record has been set in this one moment, and it almost seems unthinkable that it could never once let up or fall below when the bar was set so high from the get-go.

"Trapped", is an amazing song-- a song that often after listening to side A of this record can get stuck in your head for hours-- who knew hardcore could be this catchy!?! Its approach to social situations is the perfect example of how lyrically this band is above and beyond other hardcore groups. "You're X'd!" is another classic song, a propulsive tune bursting with an emotional depth to the lyrics on the subject of straight-edge quite possibly never matched by anyone ever since.

Cover to Void side.

Void is insanely interesting from start to finish. Their style was so explosive and wild, which is no small accomplishment in a form of music where things are already high-speed and blaring full blast at all times.  Although Void is very guilty of something most hardcore bands always try to do: play as fast as possible at all times! However, unlike most other bands-- Void executed this to the max and almost effortlessly!

The guitarist Bubba Dupree played wild licks and solos-- shredding and bordering on heavy metal (which they later would stylistically shift to), yet rhythmically and song structure-wise still within the confines of hardcore. He had amazing control and technique with the whammy bar, and it's definitely a key component in what made Void so much more exciting and drastically different from other hardcore bands.

Void side of lyrics sheet

The ferocity of vocalist John Weiffenbach and his mischievous behavior behind the mic are trademark to the bands sound as well. Lyrically, Void was also very interesting, but for totally different reasons than Faith. They had an eerie spooky vibe to their content full of violence with songs like, "Time to Die" and, "Condensed Flesh; as well as a confrontational in-your-face attitude with their anthems, "Ignorant People" and arguably the highlight of side B, "My Rules".

This reissue edition of the record comes complete with a digital download, and a killer lyric/photo sheet inside. This is definitely a must-own for any punk/hardcore collectors, and if you somehow haven't managed to come across this yet, then you are about to have that same light-bulb mentioned earlier shine your way!

John Weiffenbach

John Weiffenbach