10 years after Generation of Vipers dropped the critically acclaimed 2014 full length, Coffin Wisdom, the Knoxville, TN trio unleashes the apocalyptically aggressive full length album titled, Guilt Shrine. The album is due for release on August 23, 2024 via Translation Loss Records (vinyl due October 11, 2024).
The bands most riveting and powerful album to date, Generation of Vipers' demanding prowess triggers an adrenaline response. Tormented vocals bear the heart of a hidden galaxy of grief and reveal a desperate surrender to the weight of regret. But there's hope - sinuous cadences unfurl like a snake shedding its skin to reveal the hidden power of the soul. Guilt Shrine brings addiction, grief, regret, friendship, and the power to become whole to the surface. This isn't a typical story of triumph, it's a diary of a person learning to live again.
Tracks such as “Lux Inversion” and “In The Wilderness” explore feelings of isolation and the loss of identity born from uncontrollable self-doubt, while the song “Elijah” addresses generational trauma and abuse. These themes - coupled with the phenomenal nuanced drumming of Billy Graves, the crushing art damaged riffs and spiteful vocal delivery of guitarist/vocalist Josh Holt, and the punishing, gritty, and at times Fugazi-esque counter melodies of bassist Travis Kammeyer - make for an extremely compelling and potent collection of songs. Anyone who enjoys the type of groove focused riffing of a band like Unsane or Godflesh, the subdued vibey moments of Cult of Luna or Kowloon Walled City, and the more adventurous moments of bands like Young Widows or Yautja, will surely find something to appreciate.
Along with the announcement, Generation of Vipers have unleashed the first listen of Guilt Shrine. The track, “Lux Inversion” is streaming now at Decibel Magazine. About the track, vocalist & guitarist Josh Holt shares -
“‘Lux Inversion’ is a song about isolating yourself from the outside world as a survival tactic to avoid feeling the pain of rejection. I am essentially having a conversation with these two conflicting sides of myself saying “I don’t like that I isolate myself in these ways, but the idea of letting other people get close is so painful that it results in this constant feeling of frustration and disappointment, which further perpetuates that disconnect from the outside world”. It’s a catch-22 of sorts and something I’m battling with often. How do I feel like my voice is heard without giving away too much of myself? It very directly addresses the critical voice inside us that fuels these feelings of self-doubt.”
Recorded and mixed by Kurt Ballou at God City (High On Fire, Converge, Gatecreeper) and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audioseige. The album features cover artwork by Grady Gordon. Translation Loss Records will release the album on two exclusive vinyl variants.
1: Joyless Grails 2: In The Wilderness 3: Elijah 4: Lux Inversion 5: Doesn't Mean Anything 6: A Quiet Life 7: Guilt Shrine
Photo: Gulnaz Graves Album Artwork: Grady Gordon
Album Details
Guilt Shrine was recorded and mixed by Kurt Ballou at God City Studio between March 2023 - November 2023. Additional engineering was completed by Zach Weeks at God City Studio and Travis Kammeyer at Fahrenheit Studio. The album was mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege.
Thanks to Perfect World PR for all of the details.
Release Date: July 05th 2024. Record Label: London Doom Collective / Evil Noise Recordings. Formats: Cassette/CD/DD/Vinyl
Mourning Light: Tracklisting
1.Precipice
2.No Salvation
3.Mourning Light
4.Invisible Agony
Members
Chris Jones – Guitars, Vocals
Mark Davidson - Drums, Griefcase.
Ollie Isaac – Bass
Review
Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal collective Old Horn Tooth new album Mourning Light takes a different progressive narrative compared to their 2019 release From The Ghost Grey Depths. As the band focus more upon long-drawn Drone/Doom and down tuned instrumental passages which draws upon influences such as YOB, SLEEP and ELECTRIC WIZARD with a certain filthy and seedy Doomedelic based Stoner rhythm that made their debut release such a great record to listen to.
Mourning Light has a deep meaningful LOW & SLOW delivery with the music being built around a dominant DRUMS and BASS combo from Mark and Ollie respectively. Chris provides eerie vocals and an absolutely devastating Sludgy guitar sound that has a powerful WEEDIAN and slightly POSSESSED tone which is aggressive from the start which you can hear within the excellent opening track of Precipice.
The song follows a Progressive Doom/Stoner Metal structure throughout its epic sixteen minutes plus run-time. Old Horn Tooth combines Psychedelic textures and Sonic fueled landscapes with the whole modern day Psychedelic/Cosmic Rock energy being stripped back into a surreal and primal raging assault on the senses. Overlapping sound effects and trippy atmospherics languish silently into the background when Old Horn Tooth unleash a distorted array of extended instrumental jams and sludgy guitar solos that demand your full attention.
Second track No Salvation continues with the Progressive based energy of the opening track with mind-blowing instrumental solos that some of the most powerful on the whole record especially when Old Horn Tooth reach moments of deafening levels of AMPLIFIER DISTORTION and different styles of REVERB and STEREO FEEDBACK. The vocals are constantly raw with an honest delivery to them with Old Horn Tooth once again showing real moments of huge originality within their music and lyrics. The song is quite emotionally draining but the track isn’t afraid to unleash HELL ON EARTH within your hearing.
I was quite surprised at how emotionally draining and brilliantly melodic this album really is. Old Horn Tooth shows a deeply caring side to their music despite the dark nature of the music itself. The next two tracks Mourning Light and Invisible Agony continue to explore the more Progressive and Riff Centric values of Old Horn Tooth’s whole creative mission which become the most impressive and outstanding parts of the record.
Third track Mourning Light is another fourteen minutes plus number with Old Horn Tooth delving into a similar Post-Doom energy as YOB and Pallbearer. The whole flow maybe seedier and down-tuned but the message is there which is down to the first-rate use of PSYCHEDELIC and AMBIENT sounds yet again. Sounds of epic FUZZED UP levels of instrumental passages become more emotionally rewarding when Chris Jones’s exquisite use of different vocal styles lead the song to an incredible finish.
However, it’s the epic final track of Invisible Agony that has allowed Mourning Light to become my favourite album of the year. This is where Old Horn Tooth impresses on all technical and creative levels with the sheer amount of different styles of Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal that appear. This track has a similar scale that can easily be matched or compared to the legendary DOPESMOKER. The use of different Ambient and Psychedelic textures against a sludge driven Post-Rock/Post-Stoner attitude allows Old Horn Torn to play the heaviest, vibrant and most exciting grooves on the entire album.
Mourning Light may just propel Old Horn Tooth to the upper levels to the forefront of the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal scene with its powerful vision and can be considered one of the most breathtaking, wholly original and defining albums of the whole year.
Gods & Punks, the boundary-pushing Brazilian stoner rock band, is thrilled to announce the release of their new single "Decerebration" from their forthcoming album "Death."
You can now watch the official lyric video for "Decerebration" below and immerse themselves in the powerful soundscape that defines this latest release.
"Death," set to release on July 26th through Electric Valley Records, promises to be a cathartic journey, deeply inspired by frontman Alexandre Canhetti’s harrowing near-death experience in 2021.
Release Date: July 12th 2024. Record Label: Majestic Mountain Records. Formats: DD/Vinyl
Sacrifice Darkness And … Fire: Tracklisting
1.Sacrifice 05:54 video
2.The Moon Rises As The Immortals Gather
3.The Night That Came To Take You Away
4.Queen Zabo
5.Another Night Another Bite
6.Blood Of Evil
7.Electric Night
8.A New Day Rising
Members
Rachela Piras - Drums
Virginia Piras - Bass
Fabrizio Monni - Guitars/Vocals
Review
Sometimes you get a new album and know about 5 seconds in that you are about to be experiencing a damn masterpiece. Putting Black Capricorn's new record, Sacrifice Darkness and Fire, onto my stereo system felt just like that kind of some time. I was immediately immersed into a dark underworld and felt the air around me get thick and heavy, like I had entered a 4 dimension gravitational cave. The fuzzy deliciousness of the guitar grabbed me hard, and I knew I was going to be in for a beautifully horrific journey.
Black Capricorn is a supreme 3 piece doom band from Sardinia, Italy. They consist of vocalist and guitar player Kjxu (Fabrizio Monni), bassist Virginia Piras and Rachela Piras on drums. This is their latest effort on Majestic Mountain Records.
I know we throw "Album of the Year'' around pretty loosely but this is a top ten, nah, top 5 contender. Supremely heavy, Sacrifice Darkness and Fire stands like a monolithic stone temple in a dark forest, casting its shadow between the trees and into the landscape and deafening all within its reach with a sonic blanket of doom. This album is expertly crafted and recorded. Black Capricorn really throws their weight around on this album.
The first cut, Sacrifice, was the first single released and provided an excellent teaser. Sacrafice is doomy as fuck and sets the tone for the entire album. This is a compilation of dark and heavy songs telling a gripping tale. Fuzzy heavy guitars and deep semi-wet but clean vocals are prevalent throughout the release and they sound perfectly in place with the theme of the record.
The second song continues and almost plays like an extension of Sacrifice. Definitely its own entity, The moon rising...the Immortals watching...this tune is full of darkness and despair. Kjxu’s guitars are so heavy they threaten to take over the whole song but the vocals are relentless and balance the song, giving it soul. I like the feel that the guitar fills around the 2:38 mark create a siren like sound, portraying the impending doom for the innocent peasants who may soon be victims of a dark feeding.
The Night that Came to Take You Away continues to tell a tale of horror...dark rituals and spell casting. This tune brings some of the heaviest and fuzziest tones I've heard since Hastronaught's No Return. It also filled my head with classic horror images...witches, snakes and cow skulls in an ancient European forest setting with the darkness of the tree’s canopy surrounding fearful travellers...oppressive...wet dreary vocals act as a harbinger of impending doom. Then it hits...vampires. Blood sucking vampires. The song delivers. This song weighs a metric shit ton. The night that came to take you away…like an evil wraith created from fuzzy tones.
Then the Queen arrives to blow the album up. Here we have an energetic introduction to Queen Zabo, and she's majestic indeed. The powerful, swift and articulate Queen cuts through the air with authority. There is some desert rock goodness here, and this tune has that signature Swedish aggression that is in contrast to the previous jam's doomy feel. The fog and clouds have lifted and some starry light is reaching the forest floor. The setting has moved to a fierce, punch you in the face brutality. The red carpet has been placed for Queen Zabo and she rolls up melting faces and seizes the unsuspecting by their fuzzy balls. Relentless and unyielding...long live the Queen.
Another Night Another Bite is a rousing celebration of vampiric ritual. This jam feels like the monsters are celebrating and boasting of immortality. The guitar weaves into a dancing circle of monsters...gyrating bodies with bloody hands and mouths laugh over a pile of their victims. Again the heavy fuzzy guitars and bass create an oppressive and gray atmosphere...you can feel the moon moving between clouds and bats filling the air.
The next song, Blood of Evil, drives forward, finding yet another level of doomy weight. The vocals here are clear and darkly beautiful. Blood of Evil is full of crushing sorrow and perhaps remorse. This is dark. There is a Monolord-y feel here, perhaps. This song carries emotional weight and is one of my favorite tracks. Blood of Evil is so deliciously dreary. When I think of doom, this is the type of sound that instantly comes to mind.
Electric Night follows with a bang. There is a distinct tempo increase for this song. Electric indeed, this one explodes with faster desert tones and energy. The heavy blanket has been shugged off at least temporarily and Black Capricorn shows off some great songwriting here with lyrics you will sing along with and smokin guitars solos and driving energy. There is that wonderful desert rock sound here. Electric Night pulls you out of the doomy abyss for a moment and gets your head banging and feet stomping.
The album closes with the previously released A New Day Rising. The new day rises with a doomy beginning but quickly ascends into a ruckus driving ripper. A song that provides an interesting lift to what is mostly a very heavy doom record. The influence of Black Sabbath is most prevalent on this track, this is a song I could see Ozzy singing. Excellent driving rock and roll on this ripper. The song has a quick pace and is built for some serious headbanging. This song leaves me wanting more! That's how an album should end.
I'm blown away by this effort by Black Capricorn. There is no doubt in my mind this album will be in the discussion for album of the year. Sacrifice Darkness … And Fire is a standout effort from Black Capricorn that every stoner, doomer and low desert punk should listen to and consider purchasing.
The record has everything you could want in a doom album. Kjxu’s guitar work and tone on these tracks is absolutely wonderful. He plays a fuzzy, harsh and dark guitar style that is dripping with emotion. The bass and drums from the Piras duo are like clockwork. Every song is tight and not a second is wasted.The vocals provided by Kjxu are dark and heartfelt and semi-wet, damp. The tone and solid songs have created an unmistakably heavy underground classic. Every song is tight and not a second is wasted. The concept and theme of Sacrifice Darkness are exciting and command the listener’s attention. It's just fucking brilliant y'all. Buy this now if you still can!
Swedish godfathers of progressive stoner rock Mammoth Volume announce the release of their new album "Raised Up By Witches" on August 23rd through Blues Funeral Recordings and present its first single with "Serpent In The Deep".
Mammoth Volume return with a new album that harnesses their absolute fluency with the somehow compatible genres of 70s progressive rock and modern stoner riffage. The result is an absorbing trek through head-nodding grooves, wispy instrumentation and quirky brilliance that's riveting. Mammoth Volume has made it their brand to go unexpected places and take constant delightful turns pretty much every time we think we've got them pegged, and "Raised Up By Witches" is a seamless and exhilarating new trip where they're basically the only vehicle on the road.
About the album, the band says: "Raised Up By Witches was meant as a themed album but became more of an open field. While still wanting to be respectful of previous fans of the band, we started to tell ourselves that Mammoth Volume is really whatever we record. So we put a thrash song on the album along with a 70’s style epic and some straight-up prog rock. In the end, it turned into something completely different than planned, which is what MV is all about."
"Raised Up By Witches" will be issued in Limited Galaxy Haze vinyl edition, CD Digipak and digital format on August 23rd, with preorders available now via Blues Funeral Recordings.
Mammoth Volume "Raised Up By Witches" - Out August 23rd on Blues Funeral Recordings Preorder on Bandcamp, Bluesfuneral.com and SPKR shop
TRACKLIST:
1. The Battle Of Lightwedge 2. Black Horse Beach 3. Scissor Bliss 4. Diablo III: Faces In The Water 5. Lisa 6. Serpent In the Deep 7. Cult Of Eneera 8. A Tale About A Photon 9. Sången Om Ymer
Founded in the small town of Lysekil in 1996 when stoner rock was new, cool, and catching fire in Sweden, Mammoth Volume differentiated themselves with jazzy breaks, proggy passages and unusual melodic phrasings woven seamlessly into bouncing, fuzz-fueled riff rock.
Between 1998 and 2002, they released "Mammoth Volume", "Noara Dance" and "A Single Book of Songs", three albums that made a massive impact in the early days of the worldwide heavy rock community. Many longtime scene denizens still count those records among their all-time favorites, and that early flash seemed to be all the world would get from one of the style’s earliest innovators until the announcement of their reactivation in 2019.
Mammoth Volume’s 2022 return album "The Cursed Who Perform The Larvagod Rites" was lavished with praise from a music media clearly ready for a fresh angle on where stoner rock had arrived by its third decade. The Big Takeover called the album, “A clever but organic fusion of early seventies progressive rock with the crunchy riffs and walloping rhythms we all expect from good stoner rock.” Ever Metal said, “It's heavy, it's interesting, it's inventive, it's performed with verve and gusto and it's fucking good fun trying to work out where it's going next." And of the band, Invisible Oranges said, “The twenty years between their latest album and A Single Book of Songs seem to have made no dent at all on the group's chops or their hypnotic command of stoner rock.”
Lineup:
Jörgen Andersson - Vocals Nicklas Andersson - Drums, Vocals and Bass Kalle Berlin - Bass Daniel Gustafsson - Guitars, Keys, Flutes, Percussion, Bass and Vocals
Release Date: July 18th 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD
The Space Inbetween: Tracklisting
5.68º N 98.54º E Way Down Below Lost Cause Per Contra Echoes Inside 1202 Underneath The Sun Dark Horizon Beyond Sleep I: The Insomnia Beyond Sleep II: The Subconscious Decompression
Members
Simon Wilson
Peter Hunt
Sam Gates
Mikey Ward
Review
Grunge/Psych/Stoner Rockers Erronaut debut album The Space Inbetween is a record rooted within the sounds of the 90’s Grunge/Stoner Rock and having a subversive 70’s Prog Rock delivery. Add the sludgy modern day grooves and Erronaut have quite an aggressive and eye-catching style of Doom/Stoner Metal which sees the band influenced by the likes of KYUSS, QOTSA, Soundgarden, Lowrider, Black Sabbath and FU MANCHU.
Erronaut were known as BLACK ATLAS who released a fantastic debut album called Weight Of The World back in 2018. The two bands are similar but with Erronaut being heavier and perhaps offering wildly inventive ideas that have a more cinematic creative approach on this album alone.
The Space Inbetween opens a highly volatile style of Fuzz Rock and Grunge which builds upto heavier areas of the COSMIC DOOMED out template of Stoner Metal on the sublime opening track 5.68º N 98.54º E. There is a deep style of tone, melody and progression which allows Erronaut to appear more aligned to the creative stylings of King Buffalo and ELDER in places but with that seedy Grunge appetite allowing them to become more rebellious on the heavier parts of the record.
The next two tracks Way Down Below and Lost Cause sees Erronaut to explore that down-tuned and amplifier distorted environment with a powerful and menacing bass line which moves the band firmly over to the DOOM METAL side of life. The sludgy guitars and melodic vocals combine for a catchy and aggressive movement which can be bittersweet at times. However, the killer BASS LINE allows Erronaut to play with a more METALLIC intent which manifests into some epic GUITAR SOLOS and GUITAR SHREDDING towards the end of the track.
Fourth track Per Contra is full of despairing Space Rock sounds with the Sludge/Stoner Rock based guitars venturing into heavier areas of FUZZED UP ATMOSPHERICS which should impress the LOW & SLOW crowd. The melodic vocals are overlapped with harsh growls that shows Erronaut aren’t afraid to transform their musical surroundings into even more gloomier territory. However, there’s some epic sounding SPACE ROCK and COSMIC DOOM based soaring instrumental solos which gets an added boost of distorted ambient themes that provides the heaviest moments on the entire record.
Fifth track Echoes Inside is a sullen instrumental number that’s full of Ambient Post Rock sounds set against an ice cold solitary guitar which sets up the tone for the next part of the album.
The second half of the album sees a dominant Post-Doom and Psych Stoner Metal sound dictate the action and allowing the Grungier aspects merge with a thrilling Atmospheric Sludge sound which becomes the main driving force for Erronaut to explore into heavier areas of music with especially on tracks such as: 1202, Underneath The Sun, Dark Horizon and Beyond Sleep I: The Insomnia.
The Space Inbetween is an EPIC sounding album with intense production values that allows Erronaut to become wonderfully adventurous with their music throughout. The album is helped along by insightful and highly original lyrics that can have a timeless quality to them especially when The Space Inbetween ventures into the further depths of the Stoner Rock/Metal COSMOS.
The Space Inbetween is an absolute joy to listen to and one that will no doubt allow the band to make a huge impression within the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal scene with its SOARING ANTHEMIC RIFFS and wonderful cinematic style of first rate storytelling.
Release Date: May 25th 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD
INFINIHATE: Tracklisting
1.INFINIHATE 21:23
Review
INFINIHATE is the new EP from Welsh Doom/Death/Sludge Metallers Gnasch who have prepared a singular twenty minute plus track release that is quite unforgiving with its unrelenting style of Death Metal inspired Doom/Sludge Metal sounds. The track is also quite riff-centric and not what I was expecting at all. As I was holding out initially for a release full of classic Death Metal blast beats and faster moments of sheer brutality.
However, Gnasch have a classic down-tuned approach which reminded me of the NOLA Metal scene with an sublime EYEHATEGOD and Soilent Green influence starting to appear. Throw in moments of abstract Psychedelic passages and extended Drone based moments that you could easily identify with SUNN 0))) especially towards the half-way mark.
The vocals are a mixture of harsh growls, guttural screams and ethereal chanting which merges Death Metal theatrics and tribal chants on the later stages of the track. Gnasch are a band very hard to pin down as they play music from the more extreme side of the musical spectrum but they have a great way of playing expressive moments of Progressive based Doom/Sludge Metal which allows INFINIHATE to be their most impressive release to date.
INFINIHATE is perhaps more suited to the Extreme Metal crowd though if the casual listener maybe surprised what they hear as Gnasch are a superbly talented bunch who know who to generate a mean sounding RIFF out of nothing and then unleash a torrent of FILTH into their direction.
Embrace the DARKNESS if you have the stomach for this.
Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metallers VOIDOZER are a fairly new name within the French Underground scene and they have only released an EP called It's A.Live (Live Session @Meskine Studio) back in 2023 and their excellent new song Silence Is Great which was released earlier this month which we hosted the actual premiere for.
Their sound is a great mix of Doom, Sludge. Stoner and Post-Hardcore sounds which shows quite a bleak element to VOIDOZER's overall sound.
I wanted to find out more about VOIDOZER and I'm pleased to say that Matthieu (Guitars) from the band has kindly agreed to do this interview. Find out more for a great band.
Hi guys. Thanks for doing the interview. How are things with you all today.
Matthieu (guitars): Thank you for having us, we’re doing great, waiting for the summer weather to finally kick in so we can showcase our tattoos a bit more (laughs).
For people not in the know, can you give a brief history of how the band came together and where it is today. M: It has a lot to do with Nico (vocals) moving from the South East of France to the South West and me moving back to France with my wife after spending 6 years in Germany. Through work relations Nico met Stéphane (bass), they bonded and decided to form a doom / sludge / stoner band together. On my side, as soon as I got back to France I looked for bands via dedicated websites which led to me answering to an ad from Stéphane and … never hearing from him again (laughs).
Something like six months later, he realized the email he intended to send me never went through. I had started another project in the meantime but felt like I still had bandwidth for a different and heavier band so we stayed in touch. When my project collapsed, I met the guys and we started from there in early 2021. Florian joined us in June of that year after Stéphane posted another ad to find a drummer. Pretty old school way of finding bandmates but 3 years later we’re all still there so I guess it worked great!
Since then, we recorded a live session, played a few gigs, released the video for Silence is Great and focused heavily on the songwriting. We all have a different approach to music so we took plenty of time at the start of the project to find a sound and an identity that allows each of us to shine and have fun.
Why did you call yourselves VOIDOZER M: It was Stéphane’s idea. We organized a brainstorming session to find a band name and out of all the ones we had come up with, this really was the one that felt like it fitted our sound the best while still being easy to remember and pronounce. We all simply felt like it was the one right from the moment it was suggested.
From what I recall, Stéphane found it simply as he was thinking of band names with Void in it as well as something Bulldozer related. He smashed the two words together and there you have it.
How would you describe your overall sound for your excellent new song SILENCE IS GREAT, M: It’s always hard for us to describe our band’s sound because we have very different musical backgrounds. We all love Sludge and Doom but all came to these genres via very opposite roads. Therefore we often hear things in a riff or a melody that make sense knowing which one of us brought this or that idea but the audience might have a totally different view on it.
Overall I would still say that “Silence is great” mixes a post sludge intro, full sludge core and a caveman doom finale.
What can people expect from the song and what is the creative outline or story for the track. M: I think people can mostly expect to embark on a riff-filled trip. The song takes you into many different detours but the finale should really appear as cathartic for the listener. The fun thing with “Silence is great” is that it’s by far our longest and most sophisticated song yet it’s the one that came to be the fastest. Stéphane came in with the verse / pre chorus / chorus riffs and we built the song from there. In our first jam, we added right away the “slower chorus”, the guitar solo and Stéphane came up on the spot with the main riff for the entire second part of the song. Later that same week, I was noodling on the guitar at home, playing a soft and quiet part and realized that with a few twists, it would fit right in as a potential intro and outro. By the time of the next rehearsal we had all the parts for the song and just needed polishing.
Where did the name SILENCE IS GREAT for the track come from M: I can’t remember if we had that line written in the lyrics or as a song title first but it came very very quickly. The song describes an unjustified and violent murder. The way I see it, the sentence “Silence is great” acts both as an ironic song title for a band as loud and noisy as we are but also demonstrates the tension relief after any such atrocity is committed.
The silence that comes after illustrates the horror of the scene. I would even go as far as to say a world fully silenced from all the terrible human behaviors would probably be a great place to live in. When all you can hear are screams and cries, you can easily think to yourself “you know what? Silence is great”.
What are the long term plans for the band. Do you have an upcoming EP or Debut Full length being released in the future. M: We are all looking forward to releasing an EP or a full album, ideally we’ll be able to record it next year but it’s not fully set in stone yet. For now we need to finish the songwriting for several tracks we have in our back catalog and play more shows to live test these songs.
What is the creative process or setup within the band? Do you write the music together or do certain people within the band do that. M: In general it starts with a few riffs that either Stéphane or myself will bring to the band. Then we usually jam a bit on this, take some time to think about it, draft ideas on our side, then when we reunite and share those ideas, restructure, play the song and see if it works or not. Our drummer and singer usually draft basic ideas live and fine tune them once the bass / guitar parts and the structure are more finalized.
Your press release advised that all members have a long history in many past bands. Can you advise which bands you were part of and what type of music that you played. M: I surely can’t name all the projects we worked on. Before Voidozer, Nico sang in the chaotic hardcore band The Dawn and since his teenager years he players in various screamo and post hardcore projects. He came to the doom / sludge side of the force from the post hardcore / post metal side of things.
Flo plays in a prog metal band called Moïra, he’s a massive fan of Envy (and Tool like any drummer ;)). Stéphane played in everything from death metal to prog reggae to french neo folk. He always had a love for stoner doom and decided he was going to focus on forming such a project and dedicate himself to it 100%.
On my end, I started in punk rock bands, played in stoner / grunge projects as well as more noise rock ones too. Voidozer is both the heaviest but also the most challenging project I’ve been part of and I feel very privileged about that.
You're from Toulouse, France. What is the local Hard Rock and Heavy Metal scene like there. Is there a thriving gig scene and community that allows you to perform regularly or do you have to travel further afield to perform on a regular basis. M: We are rather fortunate in terms of bands in the greater Toulouse area. Of course the main driving force at the moment has to be Slift. These guys simply reinvented psych rock / kraut rock for the masses and watching them play live here always hits differently.
In the doom department, we have the horror based Witchthroat Serpent. In the more underground scene, our dear friends from Kaalbaar create the best of stoner doom without ever taking themselves too seriously. Ultimately, it’s a lively scene with tons of great bands. We simply lack a few smaller venues to play extreme music in but compared to most cities in France, we can’t complain.
What future gigs have you coming up.
M: This coming Tuesday (25th of June) we are opening for High on Fire! By the time you read this interview maybe we already opened for them though. That’s obviously a massive deal for us and we’ve been preparing for this one for months at this point!
After that we have a show planned with our friends Brüle and Junkyard Birds in September still in Toulouse and we are currently booking shows outside of our town for the end of the year, early next year. Stay tuned!
What bands or artists influenced you to pick up an instrument and to become a musician. M: On my end, that would be the punk rock bands that were prominent in the early 2000’s like The Offspring etc. I always doubted my ability to learn an instrument as a kid even if I’ve always wanted to pick up one. I started playing a bit of guitar at 14 but it’s only once I saw a punk rock band play live and discussed with them that I got hooked. As soon as I realized that to play this kind of riff, it would not take me 5 years of classical training, I dove right into it. Further down the road, this lead me to The Stooges, Fugazi, The Melvins, and then Red Fang, Yob, Baroness, Mastodon, etc.
Before you go, do you have any words of wisdom for your any potential fans that will come across your music. M: The world can be an incredibly dark and shitty place at times. If you feel down, angry, tired or disillusioned, simply put some super heavy fuzz music on, turn the volume up and let this cheer you up. Oh and you can use our music for that as well. ;)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
