Album Review: Void Filler – Mannequins

Right from the first track, Condos In Hell, you can tell that Void Filler are going to break barriers – and niceties – on Mannequins.

It plunges the listener right into a dysfunctional environment, one where there seems to be no way out. There and on Shades, you can hear the turmoil that has engulfed the narrator, each time amplified by the deft and devastating tsunami of grunge-facing rock that powers the songs. In The Dark filters that through a stoner/blues sound, but you can’t escape from the darkness within the lyrics.

Soul-bearing and searing, Addict is about the lies we tell ourselves, but equally details that addiction comes with a context as well as a cost. A loss to be processed, one to be filled with something, and we don’t always make the right choices – the song does reflect that realising this may come too late. Terminally Bored finds itself channelling Soundgarden and Pearl Jam into a sound more in tune with the bluesy roots of Void Filler’s Kentucky home.

Addiction or its effect on relationships, familial and otherwise, plays a large part in the lyrics, and that, no doubt, is what amplifies the unsparing blues feel of the lyrics, dark and confessional. From Jesus through to Van Gogh, faith plays a great part in the album, and while it does provide some succour, the album leaves you in no doubt that you need to find an answer within yourself to find your way forward.

Van Gogh is one of the more introspective tracks on Mannequins and could be viewed as the breakthrough to self-actualisation and renewal. Accepting flaws and the need to move on shows that, even in its dark moments, a path forward exists, be it faith in yourself, or someone higher.

Void Filler have described the album as being written “to deal with a difficult life transition involving loss, betrayal, addiction, and the road back from Hell,” and it has to be said that it must have been an exposing and difficult collection of tracks to process and put to paper – and then share with the world.

But its strength is manifold: there is no doubting the talent and musicianship for Void Filler, for one. The lyrics have a realism to them and a way to express difficult concepts by way of phrases that ease the pain but don’t hide their meaning. What the album excels at is establishing a personal and emotional low point, letting the listener know that while we are all unique, our stories can cross over into other lives.

For Void Filler, Mannequins is an expression of their own journey, and they should be thanked for sharing that. That wouldn’t be as effective without the right musical vehicle, though. The band pitch that just right: the grunge themes within the arrangements sync wonderfully, raw and expressive, with the lyrics always at the centre of every song.

Mannequins was released on the 1st of May, 2026, and can be heard on YouTube and Spotify. You can catch up with Void Filler on Facebook and Instagram to learn more about the band and album.