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Founding members Steve VanEtten (guitar, vocals) and Scott Shiverdecker (bass) began making noises together in the early '90s.
“Ever since then, I’ve been working with him because he makes me look really good,” VanEtten joked.
After adding original drummer Greg Daughtry, the group began recording in VanEtten's home studio in 1993. However, heralded singer/songwriter Jayne Sachs came calling and tagged the trio to be in her band. From there Void Where Prohibited took a back seat that would last decades.
“Jayne was looking for edge, and we brought her edge,” VanEtten explained.
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So when Shiverdecker and VanEtten left the Jayne Sachs Band years ago for their covers project 5OCD, they began toying with the idea of dusting off their indulgent and riff-heavy Void past. Shortly after recruiting 5OCD drummer Rob Hale, Void was back in the studio, releasing their first album since the '90s in Politics.
“Rob was probably the catalyst to a lot of this reforming, because now we had a drummer that might be able to play along with us,” Shiverdecker said.
“We had so much fun doing (the Politics album). We just didn’t realize we could do something that would be called ‘Void’,” added VanEtten
However, times had changed and contacts and venues that once appreciated and booked bands like Void in the '90s had dried up or closed outright. So the group went back into writing mode, composing and recording with newly-added fourth member Derek Wade (formerly of fellow '90s band Grafton) on guitar to release the 11-track Crusted With Roaches, now available on the group's BandCamp site.
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Crusted is filled with nods to Belew-era King Crimson, both vocally and with guitar acrobatics, all while Shiverdecker's bass thumps melodically, Wade's chunky guitars chug along as Hale solidly holds down the pace. Prog rock often turns listeners off, however, this album is accessible. The time signatures may throw the 4/4 ear off here and there, but it's nothing so outlandish you can't follow and enjoy, with "Flashes of Brilliant Light" being a perfect example.
The band comes off serious, but there are moments of levity, like the funky tongue-in-cheek "Fat Rice", as well as the soulful "Venus", which sounds like it came straight from '94 — the good part.
“It’s not all pessimistic. Calling it Crusted With Roaches is a very strong visual image. But if you think about it, you open the door and the daylight streams in and they all scatter. Point is they never go away. They just scatter,” said VanEtten
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All Void was waiting for was a chance to get back out and do it again live, which they — save for a short set last year — will be doing for the first time in more than 20 years at Kettering's Katz Lounge (1221 E. Stroop Rd.) Friday, July 7.
“I want somebody to actually hear this, (because) recording is two-dimensional,” said VanEtten. “The songs are discussing the idea that the more you oppose something, the more it goes underground…maybe.”
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