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| Friday, December 03, 2004
Music > Vac Xine by Symon Fong MUSIC THERAPY NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED - Vac XineVac Xine is Symon Fong's latest album. Reviewed by Spencer Ng. Symon Fong's gut wrenching vocals and seering guitars is not something you would hear during a Sunday service worship session but it sure as hell makes you wish you were there. Imagine Concave Scream, Sisters of Mercy, Paradise Lost and a bit of Black metal thrown in for good measure. A little bit Gothic? Well, that's what I thought when I was listening to Symon's one man outfit Vac Xine. Symon himself cites influences such as Living Sacrifice, Mortification, Crucified and Nirvana. Well maybe gothic ain't the word, how about downright anguished? Songs like Absence and Walls speak of disappointment, about losing someone you would expect to be there, it's about putting up barriers to prevent yourself from getting hurt even more. The other two songs have more hopeful themes about finding yourself in God but generally the moody is rather melancholic. One thing's for sure, it's one heck of a cathartic experience listening to Vac Xine and that's no surprise considering that it was largely birthed out of disappointment with his previous musical endeavors. Having been in the band thing for eight years, it's not easy to keep the fire burning as a team. Anybody who has been in a band can testify to that. There are many Christians who frown on metal as a musical genre but in Symon's words: "Its just a different vehicle, with different people driving on it". And this writer can't agree more. Having been brought up on a metal diet. I would be the first to defend the genre. Not because it is proven beyond doubt that it has no ungodly influences but because, to damn it on the basis of its genre smacks of the fallacy of hasty generalization - basing our understanding of the world on stereotypes. In fact, Symon says that he felt led to produce his music: "This might bless someone. It's about my struggle and it shows that the Christian struggles too. Christians who face the issues that I face might find that they can identify with the music that I have produced." Already, Symon's music has been a blessing to me. Aptly called Vac Xine, the name of his one man show comes from the word vaccination, since he was vaccinating himself from disappointment. People sometimes write in anguish, sometimes to excorcise their own demons, for release or perhaps for catharsis, I think it is metal therapy for the soul.
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