Eight years have passed, and many thought the Italian doom pioneers were gone for good. Void Of Silence though are back with a new, complex, solemn doom metal album, their fifth in a nineteen year-spanning career. The trio hailing from Rome has been on hiatus for the last eight years, and is now about to publish the next chapter in their story.
Founded in 199 by drummer and keyboardist Riccardo Conforti (Aphonic Threnody) and guitarist and bassist Ivan Zara (who recently joined forces with members of Pantheist and Aphonic Threnody in Towards Atlantis Lights) , Void Of Silence enriched The Sky Over with the fourth different vocalist across five albums. At first it was Malfeitor Fabban (Aborym), who was replaced by no less than Alan “Nemtheanga” Averill (Primordial, Dread Sovereign), and then Brooke Johnson (Axis Of Perdition and many others), and 2018 sees Luca Soi behind the mic.
As expected, Soi’s singing style is very different from what could be heard in his previous band, Arcana Coelestia: The Sky Over continues Void Of Silence tradition of a majestic, keyboard-oriented doom metal with clean and airy vocals. This personal style of doom metal is built upon three main tracks lasting over 15 minutes each, intertwined with shorter, minimal interludes flirting with dark ambient sounds. Soi’s emotional voice is on top of monumental riffs and deep drum beats, and synths and keyboards embrace the whole.
The concept behind this record both musically and lyrically, in the words of mastermind Riccardo Conforti, “is focused on the great human achievements of the early twentieth century, and the fiery courage of those few men whose bravery led them to set their limits far beyond humanity’s fragile horizons. Aviators and their zeppelins, the great polar expeditions, the epic journey of the Airship “Italia” led by Umberto Nobile and the tragedy of the Red Tent. The unbelievable resilience of Salomon August Andrée and his men, who traveled through the merciless vastness of the Pack, without ever turning back. The cold and blinding light that reverberates from the glacial regions as the only guidance that accompanied them until the end, is what we tried to portray. This is our tribute to them.”
The Sky Over will be released in digipak cd, boxed-set limited edition cd and gatefold, double vinyl on June 11th (vinyls on 18/06), and preorders are now open ob both Bigcartel and Bandcamp.
