Forming The Void even included perhaps the best cover I’ve ever heard of a Led Zepplin track with Kashmir. I didn’t realise it was actually Kashmir until the classic sounding riffs appeared in the middle of the song.
Forming The Void will be releasing their new album RIFT via Kozmik Artifactz in August 2018.
I caught up with the band to discuss RELIC and what the band have in store for us on RIFT.
Hi guys. Thanks for doing this interview. How are things with you today.
Doing well! Great to hear from you Steve!
For people not in the know can you give a brief history of how Forming The Void came together and what the current line-up is today.
Me and Shadi were close buds for years before we decided to jam, but it clicked immediately so we started the band. We reached out to Luke and he shot us down for like a year before joining ha-ha. We were friends with Thomas from playing shows with White Light Cemetery for several years before jamming with him. His powerful straight forward style really compliments how we write songs. And the timing made sense for us to team up with him, and it's been nothing but improvements since. He joined 6 weeks before recording Rift and still had a major impact on the sound of the recording.
Did you realise before Relic was released that the album would receive that kind of response. It struck a chord with the global Sludge/Stoner Metal scene and it’s still is today after a year it was originally released.
No, we had no idea how well it would be received. We're still blown away!
We've grown a lot in terms of production since we recorded Relic. We've really started to enjoy recording live free time as opposed to one at a time with a click. Would have been cool to do Relic like that.
You released a split EP with Pyreship recently as well. How did that come about. Were you friends with the band before releasing the EP.
We've known Pyreship for a couple years after meeting in an online amplifier forum. We were playing a lot of shows together and they approached us about doing a split. We felt that they were the best band to team up with since we were already pretty close. They actually approached us while recording Rift, so we took a weekend off and went to New Orleans to record it with James Whitten.
Do you prefer releasing split records with other bands or your own albums.
They're both fun in their own way, but I think we enjoy writing albums more since it's more of an all encompassing thing.
The thing I dig most about your music is how it can be quite gloomy one moment and uplifting the next. As Relic was full of different moments where the mood was bleak but still manages to include some uplifting sounds. Does creating that style of sound come naturally to you when writing and recording new music.
Thanks! We definitely go for that variety of feels. The contrast comes along naturally over the writing process.
Rift is coming out August 17th via Kozmik Artiftctz on vinyl and CD. We're stoked to be working with Kai, it's been rad so far. The production is a big step forward on this album. It's mixed and mastered by James Plotkin. The music has more feel and a bit more energy.
Will you be touring and promoting the new album heavily.
We're doing a run out to Denver's Electric Funeral Fest later this month, Psycho Las Vegas in August, and a tour around Descendants of Crom later this year.
Any word on European Dates.
We're hoping to make that happen in 2019!
Thanks for doing this interview. Before you go do you have any words of wisdom to say to your fans.
Thanks for reaching out Steve! Always great to hear from you. You and Håkan at Outlaws Of The Sun of some of the coolest people in the scene. I'm not sure if we have anything wise to offer, just some music we hope yall like!
Words by Steve Howe and Forming The Void
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