There’s been plenty of talk about this Southern California band’s flashy hair, cool clothes and rockin’ stage moves. I mean, they don’t just play- they perform, presenting a total package that includes plenty of tatts, a ton of Murray’s hair grease, a heavy dose of hair dye and the occasional gold-painted microphone stand. Singer James Hart is known to spread his legs, stick his hands in the air and pretend to rev a motorcycle from time to time, leaning into the crowd Weiland-like. (Former) bassist Javiera Van Huss would often lick his instrument up and down while guitar tag team Brandon Schiepatti and Keith Barney grimaced and pouted, respectively, and drummer Ken Floyd simply flailed. A lot of people find all of this contrived, feeling that it overshadows the band’s music or worse, covers up their lack of talent. And that sucks. Because what’s often overlooked is that Eighteen Visions are a bludgeoning force sonically. They don’t really write songs, they collect riffs: stitching them together like demented Dr. Frankensteins from the corpses of lesser bands until they become lumbering, bloody monsters of their own unique design. An 18 Visions song- any of the 11 found on Until The Ink Runs Out- just swallows you whole from the onset, steam-rolling slowly but surely over every inch of space allowed it with unrelenting savagery. It’s not pretty. Most of the time, it certainly isn’t catchy. But it’s large- I mean, huge, ominous and oppressive in a weird, unsettling way that far more involved and seasoned death metal bands are too formulaic to comprehend or fathom. There’s Coalesce style wandering and walking, black metal buzz saw fury, drumming that’s all over the place and an overall sense that these guys have little regard for melody or structure. That’s not to say that 18 Visions are a band without hooks. They just move away from them into the next section before you can even gain a footing. This band just simply never lets up. Only the last song, the haunting "Flowers for Ingrid," paints any kind of deeper picture, striking an emotional chord with its descending chords, clean beginning, epic ending and subtle piano texturing. It’s by far the album’s standout track, and by the time you get to it, a welcome break from the unstoppable force that is the rest of the album. "Champagne and Sleeping Pills" hints at Dillinger style mathematics, before plodding through some dance-worthy mosh. "Elevator Music" is anything but, with some of the album’s most obvious black metal bits seeping in. A couple of sung bits notwithstanding, Hart’s vocals keep barking Sean Ingram style through Until The Ink Runs Out, ‘though he adds some clever and curious inflections, growls and screeches that keep things interesting. He’s got a voice that digs in its heels and plants itself firmly atop the band’s rapid fire barrage like a junkyard pitbull guarding the most valuable of areas. Like their collective image, much has been made of the band’s sometimes questionable lyrics, particularly the provocative and disturbing "She Looks Good In Velvet" and "Wine ‘Em, Dine ‘Em, Sixty Nine ‘Em." To dismiss these songs as the irresponsible ramblings of a youthful misogynist is all too easy, and misses the point altogether. Maybe I’m investing too much into them- because I know James to be a very good person- but they read more like indictments of such attitudes towards women than they do endorsements of illicit- let alone abusive- behavior. I mean, the otherwise seemingly pro-rape "Wine ‘Em…" has a line below it in the lyric sheet which reads: "this song is about rapists and how they take advantage of their victims."  And on some level, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they’re maybe even self-incriminating attacks on parts of himself the author despises, like most good, cathartic hardcore songs. Even if you’re not satisfied by these explanations, you should at least be intrigued: to dismiss this band altogether would be to pass judgement too quickly and do yourselves, and them, a great disservice. Lyrically, the rest of the songs talk about the importance of subversive and underground music and art ("Revolutionizing The Sound Of Music"), lost love ("Flowers For Ingrid") and other topics that are just downright indecipherable ("That Ain’t Elvis Playing Piano."). Lyrics seem to be an after-thought for the Visions anyway. The non-stop and malicious rock for its own sake is more important. When I met these guys earlier this year, I noticed something funny about them: they each remind me of different celebrities: pseudo-hardcore scene celebs and otherwise. Brandon looks dead up like Josh Trustkill, albeit with some more tats and tone. Hart is a dead ringer for a young Mark Brickey (he was in The Enkindels), with a charisma and humor to match. Ken could be Sean Lennon. And Keith? He reminds of that guy in Clueless that Alicia’s character chases after but eventually merely befriends. Despite these similarities, these guys are all their own people, with wonderful and engaging qualities to make them stand apart in a crowd. And I’d say that’s a fitting summation of their band, too: you can hear their influences, but they mash it up so furiously that it ends up coming across as something new and exciting. Where their earlier releases were a bit derivative and stiff, this record gets the job done, presenting 18 Visions as more a force of nature than a band. I don’t put this CD on to get sad, happy, or even angry. I listen to it when I just feel like being crushed. Which granted ain’t that often, but fun as all get-out when it happens.

As more and more bands push the hardcore/metal envelope to previously inconceivable heights, playing a seemingly cut-throat game of "can you top this?" the question remains, is being competent really enough? Especially when measured against what was cutting edge just a few years ago and what is today. While Eighteen Visions arguably does little to stray beyond already well tilled fields, their competency and execution establishes them as one's to keep an eye on, even if they haven't quite reached beyond their range of influences at this point. Eerily reminiscent of Until Your Heart Stops-era Cave In, both in song structures and riffs (minus the indie-noise rock preoccupation and electronic-ambient experimentation) and employing a healthy Coalesce influence, which serves to balance out some of Eighteen Visions more "traditional" metalcore leanings, Until The Ink Runs Out contains enough technicality, heaviness and ferocity to break big in both the hardcore and metal scenes. However, while opener "She Looks Good In Velvet" and "Champagne and Sleeping Pills" establish a relentless pace and would no doubt be thrilling in a live environment, it's when Eighteen Visions gets into more emotional purging, "The Nothing," that they truly shine and begin to forge their own identity.

No band can compare to the heaviness that Eighteen Visions possesses.  In fact, I would venture to say that they are the embodiment of metal. "Until The Ink Runs Out" is Eighteen Visions follow-up to the crushing "Yesterday is Time Killed" with 9 songs of some of the tightest hardcore-influenced metal you will ever hear.  Imagine that Napalm Death got a new singer and had breakdowns.  Now you see my addiction? To put it simply, Eighteen Visions is a band that every metal or hardcore fan should check out.  If you can't handle it, then you aren't a metal enough.

Conflicting images here: Butterflies, flowers and a splatty death metal logo. This is some seriously brutal hardcore played by a bunch of emo-gay-looking kids (no offense to gay people, by the way). Lots of little metal riffs and chunk parts, a tint of whiny emo and a vocalist that sounds like a raspier version of Coalesce. They have some different themes as well...actually they border being really silly. Song titles range from "Wine 'em dine 'em sixty nine 'em" to "That ain't Elvis playing piano." I guess you can say whatever you want as long as you sound this sick.

A very impressive, all over the spectrum metal core album that is pretty well stacked with solid material. Musically and lyrically, these guys break down, season, fry up, garnish and eat the fucking boundaries between the hair farming plains of Metalopia and the soy-milk drinkin' hills of hardcoria with bold, brutal, ballsy, bludgeoning, ballistic, anthemic armistices of alliteration affirming, anecdote dependent doses of deathy, doomsday debacles with screamy, self loathing, samples and festering, fight ready, fuckin' "A" fetboard gymnastics in gruesome, grimaces of grinding greatness (whew!). The use of overly lengthy samples along with somewhat redundant vocal delivery seem to be the only weak points in this otherwise first rate release. Any hardcore or metal fan should get this shit immediately, as Eighteen Visions are on the fast track to becoming one of the genre's elite if they can continue to upgrade their diversity....or yew could just pose all tough and fashionable like until yer choker necklaces asphyxiate yew unto death, or yer excess hair rips yer stupid fuckin' head off. Either way... In the vein of: Botch- "We Are The Romans" and Cave In - "Until Your Heart Stops".

This is by far the best release from Orange County's 18 Visions. Newly added Keith Barney (Throwdown) on second guitar gives this powerhouse a new edge. They are the best metal band out there now and there are no competitors. Their music is straight up sick. They are hard as fuck and disgusting. Buy this or die.

Huge layout here, with a sizeable foldout digipack case containing tons of colorful collaged artowork that includes thick paint, insects, withered flowers, rusty razor blades, etc. Awesome. My only complaint is that the lyrics are extremely hard to read - the font is tiny and italicized so it creates a few headaches. The band does have great lyrics though, with a ton of spite and sarcasm, as well as a message. Titles such as "Champagne and Sleeping Pills" or "That Ain’t Elvis Playing Piano" only hint at what’s in store. Musically, Eighteen Visions offer up an eccentric flurry of crazy, metallic hardcore with sludgy production. The drums are perfectly clear but everything else is a seamless mess, which helps add to the insanity because everything still sounds good. The vocals are violent shouts with thick, fuzzy distortion. The writing resembles bands such as Botch, but this is much heavier and not quite as technical. There are a ton of changes, if your attention slips for a minute you’ve missed ‘em; they do save themselves with solid breaks and buildups, though. There’s a lot of metal in areas, especially tremolo picking galore in "Elevator Music". However, by far the most amazing and powerful moment on the disc is "Prelude to an Epic" - total melodic metal with clean, melodic leads lines and so much more. Astounding! I really think the band should experiment with more of this, I had no idea this was a possibility here! Wild band, definitely worth checking out.

Orange County's Eighteen visions' latest release, "Until the ink runs out" is sheerly nothing less than breath taking.. some of the heaviest, technical shit to come out of the hardcore scene for a while.. Setting the stage for some great vocals. The correspondance between the guitars and percussion on this effort are uncanny and of course, are unbelievably insane. Eighteen visions is however, much more than your "typical metal / hardcore band". Unlike previous Eighteen visions recordings, this latest effort is very well produced.. letting you point out every detail on the entire album. A couple things that stand out about this record are it's incredible percussion, and it's undescribable lyrics.. which appear to be about past relationships for the most part.. There is very little to complain about with this album, except for it's ability to be monotonous at times.. but that in now way takes away from it's brilliance. With this release.. Eighteen visions have definitely proven that to the hardcore scene that they are here to stay for quite some time.. and i would recommend this one to any fan of extremely heavy music.

Wow! I never expected such a great full length from these guys, even though their 7" was a highly recommended review from last year. Until the Ink Runs Out is the definition of modern hardcore. From heavy, metal influenced riffing to the raging emotions hardcore has always been known for, the new EV record grabs you and never lets go. Imagine where Deaguy's anger and chaos would be today with added grooviness. I cannot suggest a better CD to be the soundtrack for your summer trouble causing.

From the West Coast comes maniacal hardcore/noisecore act Eighteen Visions, and I'm so glad I finally got this as many have spoken highly of them. I can now see why. But looking at their pictures within the CD booklet you think, "This music came from them!?" Fucked up and out of control (but so in control, mates!), Eighteen Visions pummels us from the get go (opener "She Looks Good In Velvet") and just make our lives a living hell for 43-plus minutes. I love the 'Shining' movie snippet leading into the track "Champagne And Sleeping Pills" where a crazed Jack Nicholson says to Shelly Duvall, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just going to bash your brains in." After hearing the music of Eighteen Visions, that snippet just sums up the whole musical experience here.

Eighteen Visions is a bunch of fucked up dudes. Get this…….. the first track of the CD entitled "She Looks Good In Velvet" starts off with guitar riffs straight from hell, and the vocals sound almost death metal. All the while they make sure to keep it hardcore. It is incredible. They lyrical content is about a murder………. I believe!!!!!! Fucking twisted shit. But if your into hardcore with a hint of metal, then you will fucking pitch a tent for this band. Onward….. "She's A Movie Produced Masterpiece" reminds me of Shadows Fall if they were a hardcore band. The guitar's tear you skin off before you can say "Holy shit." In other words….fast! The vocals are yet again just fucking mean. A minute in, the vocals change to a yell about praising a chic. Calling her a "Knock out" and "Blue eyed beauty, you rock my fucking world." Basically the track is about a crazed fan of a movie star…kind of what Brent does when he thinks of any hot chic in the movies…envisions being with her. Don't let you thoughts stray, it could be an ugly site. Only in this case the vision changes to something violent. The entire CD goes on to make you think. The lyrics are at times sick and very twisted. While at other times making you think. See "Who Killed John Lennon?" Very cool shit! "Flowers For Ingrid" is very emotional, a must here. As a whole, they fucking rip. If you have a bad day at work, and get caught in traffic on the way home. My suggestion, pop Eighteen Visions in your CD player, it's like fucking catharsis.

If it is at all possible, 18 Visions are poised to lead hardcore into the next generation. This band offer up a sound almost completely thier own, while retaining those same hardcore hooks that made every other heavy band out there. Vocals are sick, gutteral , ear-piercing screams to harmonic melodies. A total grind feel with metallic hardcore overtones.

This masterpiece is as close to perfection as a band can come. Eighteen Visions are one of the sickest metalcore bands I've heard in a long time and they are from the West Coast, which is an uncommon spot for this type of music to spring up. They are a full-on chaotic metal assault with the type of breakdowns that put you into a murderous frenzy and the vocalist may not even be human. The music and vocals remind me a lot of For the Love Of or the earlier Cave In material but with a bit more intensity all around than both those bands combined. I don't know if their live show has made it to the East Coast yet, but if it hasn't, I'm going to work on getting it over here because I need to witness this band live.

The West Coast mental patients collectively known as Eighteen Visions don't veer from their neck-breaking pace very often on Until The Ink Runs Out. But the album isn't lacking in dynamics, even though it's primarily an exercise in endurance. If you don't collapse in a battered heap after experiencing the death rattling breakdowns and ruthless screaming of Until The Ink Runs Out, you will walk away cleansed. Progressive hardcore hasn't sounded this good since the dearly departed Disembodied.

You know, I could go on and on about this band. I really could. We are talking about uniquity in hardcore. Yes, this band has proven that that can be possible. With their latest release, a 9 song blitzkreig on the senses, Eighteen Visions have stepped up to the plate and cracked a ball that has yet to land, folks. With song titles like "She Looks Good in Velvet" and "Wine em, Dine em, Sixty-nine em," they are also out to get attention, and I assure you that they do. A total cocky attidude, with enough breaks to keep you slamming into the walls all night, then comes those soft, emotional parts to get those tears rolling, all in preparation for an all out onslaught on the senses. Fans of anything even remotely heavy, yet different, will just downright kill for this. This band is gonna be big, and this record is proof that they are so ready for that, and that nothing is gonna stand in their way. I'll bet you anything on that. Come back to me in a year and try to tell me that I'm wrong.