There are some facts from which Vended can run but not hide, and for which they will likely forever be judged. Vended hail from Des Moines, Iowa. On vocals, they feature a young man whose driving licence reads ‘Griffin Taylor’, while behind the drumkit lies another who checks out library books under the name ‘Simon Crahan’. Vended – well, two-fifths of Vended, its mouthpiece and vision-setters – are the literal sons of Slipknot. You’ll have no doubt been reminded of this fact at every mention of the band’s name. Lord knows, Vended have.
That, though, doesn’t tell the full story, and on their self-titled debut full-length following 2021’s erratic What Is It/Kill It EP, Vended offer plenty of evidence to suggest a future exists beyond the shadow of their family tree.
Griffin Taylor’s transition from guttural barks to elevated cleans on The Far Side and Nihilism might be eerily reminiscent of his father, and could benefit from a lesson in diction. And yet the introspection of his disquieting, anxiety-strewn lyricism – ‘The world around me is too much for me to handle’, he spits on Pitiful – will strike at the core of the Vended generation. On Am I The Only One and Where The Honesty Lies, meanwhile, the rest of Vended spotlight New Wave Of American Heavy Metal grooves as much as they dig into familiar nu metal trappings.
Chaos abounds, naturally, but there’s skilful control, too – a newly displayed surgical precision that balances out the doses of heavy-handed bludgeoning that Vended still take glee in dishing out. Surprises here are few and far between and, in taking its every stylistic cue so heavily from who and what they know best, Vended’s search for their signature formula does remain a work in progress. But as far debut albums go, this is a sure-footed first step. The kids are gonna be alright.
Vended is out September 20.
