Vacant Stare. 18 months ago their Andy Sneap (Machine Head, Will Haven, earthtone9) produced demo had both critics and fans salivating like loons. Live slots with Skindred, earthtone9, Stampin? Ground and Dog Fashion Disco served to highlight the nuclear intensity of ?The Stare? live, and the possibilities seemed endless. Indeed Kerrang magazine saw fit to include the band on their immensely successful compilation album alongside heavyweights like Deftones, Linkin Park and Slipknot. Then? well, then nothing. It simply seemed like the London based six-piece had disappeared off the face of the earth. Instead they had been creating something. Something so monstrous, so immense in scope that even your wildest expectation for the band stands absolutely no chance of being sufficient! At this moment in time Vacant Stare are the very definition of ?exciting proposition?. Vindication (COP020), their debut album due for release on Copro Records on March 25, is quite frankly massive. Encapsulating far, far more than the band?s early material, it effortlessly hurdles the nu-metal genre, and plums for something far more diverse. Sure, the guitars are as slab heavy as failed weight watchers stagediving from a multi-storey carpark, but there is subtlety and depth to songs like ?Where I Stand? and ?Patience? that speaks of nu-age grunge and that old monster ? straight up rock! Recorded at Philia Studios, Oxon and Backstage, Ripley, between December 2001 and February 2002, the band have utilised no less than three engineers / producers. Recording was handled by Andy Sneap (Machine Head, Testament,) Martin Barbour (Capdown, Medulla Nocte) and Dave Chang (Stampin?Ground, Linea 77), while mixing was the lone responsibility of the aforementioned Mr Sneap. The result is a powerhouse of a record that finally asserts what Vacant Stare are all about. Forget your preconceptions ? listen to Vindication and find out for yourself that Vacant Stare are at the very vanguard of the rock revolution currently sweeping the globe.