[Click play above to stream the premiere of a lyric video for Forming the Void’s ‘Ark Debris.’ Their new album, Rift, is out Aug. 17 on Kozmik Artifactz.]

I’m sorry, but any record that starts with a song called “Extinction Event” is telegraphing its heaviness. And sure enough, Rift is the most weighted offering yet in the relatively brief but prolific tenure of Louisiana four-piece Forming the Void. In terms of tone, atmosphere and rhythm, it brings to bear a heft that feels like an arrival point — the title of the side B opener, sure enough: “Arrival” — following last year’s Relic (review here) and 2016’s Skyward (review here) with an uptick in scope, apparent lyrical narrative and sense of largesse that nothing they’ve yet done has touched. Comprised of seven tracks running a total of a still-LP-friendly 45 minutes delivered via Kozmik Artifactz, Rift is, simply, a new level for the band. Operating as the four-piece of guitarist/vocalist James Marshall, guitarist Shadi Omar Al-Khansa, bassist Luke Baker and drummer Thomas Colley (the latter making his first appearance), they offer their most cohesive and purposeful collection to-date, with landmark hooks in “On We Sail” and the subsequent “Arcane Mystic” and themes that have been present at least since Relic — the cover art of which depicted a hooded mystic traveling through space on an asteroid — the album ultimately takes a linear path.

Following its beginning in “Extinction Event,” that time-to-go narrative launch point leads to a lyrical journey through “On We Sail,” an “Arcane Mystic” met along the way, “Transient” leading to “Arrival,” “Ark Debris” when the vessel in question presumably is broken down and turned into a “Shrine” at the end. The sense of culmination is underscored by the fact that the finale tops 10 minutes long while everything else apart from the 6:53 “Ark Debris” is under six minutes, but by then the point is made in roiling, rolling progressive riffing and Marshall‘s echoing vocals; a spaciousness clearly meant to be taken literally. As in, “it’s about space.” Perhaps most pivotal of all the story being told doesn’t detract from the songwriting in general, and though I’d bet by the time they got around to writing the words to “Transient,” the concept was locked in place, neither that centerpiece nor anything around it pulls away from the well-struck balance between craft and storytelling.

On a sheer execution level, Rift is loaded with intent and poise. At their fastest, Forming the Void are not rushed, and at their slowest, in the back half of “Transient,” say, they remain comfortable in their forward motion. “Extinction Event” introduces a variety of elements in terms of the ultra-dense tones, spacious clean vocals and brash rhythmic swing, and in so doing summarizes a fair bit of what’s to come throughout the album, but as “On We Sail” and “Arcane Mystic” lead into “Transient,” the side A finale marks a significant shift in approach. Or at very least it foreshadows one ahead. With impressive lead work from Al-Khansa, thick low end from Baker and an impressive debut from Colley in shoving them along their path, the early cuts of Rift are more straightforward in structure. The hooks have already been noted, and it’s not as though ambience isn’t a factor, as the intro to “Arcane Mystic” immediately hypnotizes and bolsters the feeling of openness, but that will become much more of a focal point on side B, and true to its name, “Transient” marks that transition. Like “Arcane Mystic” just before, it has a subdued introduction, but it goes further in making loud/quiet tradeoffs between utterly massive plodding and more serene melodic fare.

The shifts can be sudden but don’t feel that way because the pace is gradual, and like everything that surrounds, they’re brought to bear with a grace that underscores the progressive mindset of the band as a whole. “Transient” has something of a hook, so ties well to the cuts before, but also tells of the expanses yet to be traversed on “Arrival” and beyond into side B. Sure enough, what would seem to be a conclusion is only the beginning point of something new for Forming the Void as arrival rolls out a memorable riff, echoing vocals and a steady nod of a groove en route to a slow-marching midsection and a pickup in the second half to psychedelic lead work laced over a still-tectonic groove. Shifts in tempo only continue as “Ark Debris” takes hold with a decided Middle Eastern inflection in the introduction. Patient in its unfolding, the intro becomes the bed for the verses over the first several minutes, and it’s not until about 3:10 that heavier guitars kick in over the steady drumbeat. A solo over distortion keeps the vibe of the early going alive as the halfway mark is crossed, and a subtle build happens where fuller tones are first teased and then arrive with a marked fluidity over a consistent drone that’s been there all the while.

They end with feedback there and let “Shrine” — an arrival unto itself — close out, beginning with a stretch of quiet but tense guitar and cymbal washes before the whole lumber takes hold. “Shrine” is resounding in its heavy, soaring in its melody and firm in its purpose, and lands as a significant achievement for Forming the Void on their path of sonic discovery. After thudding out the initial verses, they stop around four minutes into the total 10 and drop to quiet to let keys or effects-laden guitar answer the Mideastern vibe of “Ark Debris” for a moment before resuming the stomp. A bridge of some earlier Elder-style riffing leads to “Shrine”‘s melodic payoff and then a final solo over double-time drums pushes toward the final slowdown, huge in its sound and headphone-worthy in its engrossing rumble.

The end comes when “Shrine” cuts short at 10:13 and fades back in on a cymbal wash for more feedback before they make their way out again, ending the album with a reminder that while this story has finished, there’s much more to say. At least, that’s the hope, considering how much Forming the Void have been able to turn their first two full-lengths into lessons and learned from them in the making of this third one. They’re a band who should be touring, especially now, since it would seem they’ve found and been able to harness the sound and style they were looking for these last several years and the task before them would be to refine it. As to how that will happen or the direction they’ll work in from this point on, I’ve no idea, but everything they’ve done to get to this stage has been willful in its creative growth, and one doesn’t expect that to stop just because they’ve so thoroughly nailed it this time around. But make no mistake, they have nailed it.

Forming the Void on Thee Facebooks

Forming the Void on Twitter

Forming the Void on Bandcamp

Kozmik Artifactz on Thee Facebooks

Kozmik Artifactz on Twitter

Kozmik Artifactz on Instagram

Kozmik Artifactz website

Well, we made it to the end of another Quarterly Review. One more batch and then it’s off to planning the next one for late September/early October. I hope you have found something this week that you’ve really dug. I have. A few, to be honest. Not everything is going to stick with every listener, of course, and that includes me, but for as much as putting this one together has been, there’s been some really good, year-end-list-type stuff included. At least as far as my own list goes. I sincerely hope you agree.

So let’s do this last one, then go sleep for a couple hours. Alright? Here we go:

Quarterly Review #41-50:

Worshipper, Mirage Daze

I don’t know if Worshipper knew they’d be embarking on their first West Coast tour in Summer 2018 when they hit Mad Oak Studios in Oct. 2016 to record the four cover tracks for their Mirage Daze EP on Tee Pee Records, but it certainly worked out in the Boston four-piece’s favor. Following-up their 2016 debut, Shadow Hymns (review here), Worshipper present four cover tracks in Uriah Heep’s “Easy Livin’,” The Oath’s “Night Child,” Pink Floyd’s “Julia Dream” and The Who’s “Heaven and Hell,” and while I’m a little sad that “Heaven and Hell” isn’t the Black Sabbath song, which I think they’d nail if they tried it, and I’m glad to have a studio version of their take on Floyd’s “Julia Dream,” which from the first time I saw them live was always a pleasure to watch live, I think the highlight of Mirage Daze might be “Night Child.” I never bought that The Oath record, and Worshipper’s take on its lead single is about the best argument I’ve seen for doing so. It may or may not be a stopgap issued to coincide with the tour, but Mirage Daze is a welcome arrival anyway. It’s a fan piece? Well, I’m a fan, so right on.

Worshipper on Thee Facebooks

Tee Pee Records website

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Dopethrone, Transcanadian Anger

Montreal scumsludgers Dopethrone return with Transcanadian Anger, an eight-track blister-fest of crunch riffing and misanthropic vibes. Delivered through Totem Cat Records, the 36-minute Weedeater-gone-bad-drugs sludge assault seems to invite superlatives front to back, even in the slamming instrumental “Killdozer” – a tribute to the band? – and the swinging penultimate cut “Kingbilly Kush.” Elsewhere, opener “Planet Meth,” “Snort Dagger,” “Tweak Jabber” and “Scuzzgasm” celebrate addiction and violence unto oneself and others, making a spectacle of decay set to voluminous sludge riffs and abrasive vocals. This is Dopethrone’s aesthetic territory, and they’ve done well over the last decade to make it their own. As they answer 2015’s full-length, Hochelaga (review here), and the next year’s 1312 EP with yet another filth-caked collection, they seem all the more in their own league of aural and narcotic self-punishment. They could be straightedge vegans for all I know, but they sure sound high as fuck, and I guess that’s the point. So, well done.

Dopethrone on Thee Facebooks

Totem Cat Records webstore

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The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices, BooCheeMish

Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance would seem to be trying to solve The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices, a choral group from Bulgaria who, seemingly until teaming with Gerrard for the Prophecy Productions release BooCheeMish was known by the French name Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares. Whatever you call them, their history dates back nearly seven decades and their harmonies are utterly timeless. BooCheeMish is comprised of gorgeous folk renditions for 45 minutes of world-building perfection. Percussion of various sorts provides backing and on pieces like “Rano Ranila” they speed through at a pace and arrangement that’s head-spinning, while the later “Zableyalo Agne” finds them joined by flute for a nigh-religious experience and the subsequent “Tropanitsa” has a bounce worthy of any good times one might to envision from its evocative pulse. One can’t help but feel a bit of the cultural voyeur in taking it on – as well as feeling totally outclassed in reviewing it – but these songs were clearly meant to be enjoyed, and as their ambassadors, The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices genuinely serve a public best interest.

The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices on Thee Facebooks

Prophecy Productions website

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Omen Stones, Omen Stones

Virginia duo Omen Stones have no online presence as yet. No songs streaming. No cheeky logos-on-photos social media posts that new bands do when they’re sitting on their hands waiting to get material out there. What they – and by “they,” I mean guitarist/vocalist Tommy Hamilton of Druglord and drummer Erik Larson of Backwoods Payback, The Might Could, Alabama Thunderpussy, etc. – have is a four-song self-titled EP collecting about 13 minutes of material in demo fashion, bringing forth the Southern-shuffle-gets-weird-then-explodes opener “Secrete” as a first impression of a deceptive approach. You think it’s all good and then you get punched. Go figure. “Secrete” is also the longest track (immediate points) at 4:06, and the forward charge and harsher vocal of “Fertile Blight” follows, catchy as it is mean, and more indicative of what’s to follow in the maddening tension of “Sympathy Scars” and the fuckall sludgepunk of “Purity Tones.” Immediately against-trend, Omen Stones’ Omen Stones is a bird of prey unto itself. Hopefully at some point soon they make it publicly available.

Druglord on Bandcamp

Erik Larson on Bandcamp

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Capra, Unholy Gallows

Taking influence from hardcore punk, post-hardcore and sludge, Lafayette, Louisiana’s Capra seem to fit in a Midwestern style of semi-metallic aggression that has flourished in the wake of the likes of The National Acrobat and Coliseum. The foursome’s Unholy Gallows single follows their also-two-song self-titled 2016 EP, and finds Tyler Harper (also of the recently-defunct The Midnight Ghost Train), Jeremy Randazzo, Ben Paramore and Lee Hooper aligned in their purposes of riff-led bludgeoning. Unholy Gallows is two songs/six minutes long – not by any means an afternoon commitment in terms of listening – but its furies are unveiled in far less time than that, and both “Red Guillotine” and “Hot Lips” waste no time in doling out their beatings. A sense of heft stems from tonal thickness, but they make it move to a propulsive degree, and aside from a quick feedback intro to “Red Guillotine,” there’s no letup; even as “Hot Lips” slows the pace some initially, it maintains geared toward foreshadowing the next fist to fly.

Capra on Thee Facebooks

Capra on Bandcamp

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Universo Rojo, Impermanencia

Sprawl, sprawl, sprawl. Into space. Universo Rojo’s excellent four-track debut album, Impermanencia, makes you want to speak slowly enough to feel the words vibrate out of your mouth. The Chilean four-piece offer lengthy, jam-based excursions that echo out their feel across vast reaches of effects, progressive rhythm and melody-making unfurling all the while beneath an overarching swirl of effects, guitars and synth running atop the mix like competing currents of water. Opener “¿A Dónde Ir?” (8:13) gives way to the flute-laden krautrockism of “Visión Planetaria de los Tiempos” (8:40) as vocalist/guitarist/clarinetist Ferro Vargas-Larraguibel, drummer Naim Chamás, bassist Cristóbal Montenegro and synthesis Francisco Arellano conjure such molten possibilities. Though it’s just 34 minutes, Impermanencia is nonetheless expansive, with the 9:36 “Cinco (La Quinta Dimensión)” finding a place between drift and psych-jazz undulations while closer “Inmaterialización del Sentimiento Cósmico” (7:32) lets out a full-impulse burst of energy that’s blinding if you know just where to look. Not to be missed.

Universo Rojo on Thee Facebooks

Universo Rojo on Bandcamp

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Sergeant Thunderhoof, Terra Solus

Kudos to Bath, UK, four-piece Sergeant Thunderhoof on starting off their sophomore long-player, Terra Solus, with the album’s longest track in “Another Plane.” And likewise for the blend of psychedelia and burl that unfolds. In taking on the follow-up to their 2015 debut, Ride of the Hoof, they offer eight cuts and 51 minutes of spacious riffing charged with just an undercurrent of English boozer burl, Elephant Tree and Steak meeting head on for a raucous session of who knows what. “B Oscillation” taps nod and particularly satisfying fuzzy warmth in its lead section, while even a would-be bruiser like the subsequent “Diesel Breath” has a trip-out included. There is time for such things as every track but the penultimate and relatively minimalist soundscaper “Half a Man” tops six minutes, but Sergeant Thunderhoof make a much richer impression overall than their moniker might lead one to believe, and close out in particularly resonant fashion with “Om Shaantih,” emphasizing the breadth and post-rock elements that help make Terra Solus so engaging from the outset.

Sergeant Thunderhoof on Thee Facebooks

Sergeant Thunderhoof on Bandcamp

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Fire Down Below, Hymn of the Cosmic Man

The adaptation of Kyuss’ “Thumb” riff for Fire Down Below’s “Ignition/Space Cruiser” after the “Red Giant” intro on their second album, Hymn of the Cosmic Man (on Ripple), is nothing short of a clarion to the converted. The Belgian unit’s mission would seem to be to find that place on the horizon where the desert ground and space itself seem to meet and become one, and as side A closer “The Cosmic Pilgrim” turns from its initial crunch into more patient and drifting psych, they’d seem to get there. Atsmophere is certainly central to the record, as the aforementioned “Red Giant” and its side B counterpart “Nebula” demonstrate, never mind the other five tracks, and even as “Saviour of Man” runs through its janga-janga stoner-riffed hook there’s a flourish of effects to create a balance between the earthbound and the interstellar. Side B’s “Ascension” and especially 11-minute album-closer/highlight “Adrift in a Sea of Stars” seem to find the balance the four-piece is shooting for all along, and just before the nine-minute mark when the thick, fuzzed-out riff emerges from the jammy lead, the entire impetus for their journey seems to be laid bare. Well done.

Fire Down Below on Thee Facebooks

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

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Stone Deaf, Royal Burnout

Denver, Colorado’s Stone Deaf present a sans-frills desert rock vibe across the eight tightly structured tracks of their sophomore album, Royal Burnout (on Black Bow Records). Specifically, the compressed crunch in the guitar tone and some of the start-stop bounce riffing in cuts like “Room #240” and “Monochrome” seem to be drawn from the Songs for the Deaf methodology, and some of the vocals on opener “Spitshine” (video premiere here) remind of Queens of the Stone Age as well, but Stone Deaf – whose moniker, then, would be well sourced – have a deeper root in punk rock that underscores the “Go with the Flow” thrust of “Deathwish 62” as well as the chugging verses of “Boozy Spool” immediately preceding. It’s a sound that benefits greatly from the sharpness of its delivery and the craft Stone Deaf bring to it, and even when they seem to loosen up a bit on the midpaced pre-finale “That Lefty Request,” there’s a fervent sense of a plan unfolding. That plan would seem to be a success.

Stone Deaf on Thee Facebooks

Black Bow Records webstore

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Cracked Machine, I, Cosmonaut

Originally released last year, Cracked Machine’s debut, I, Cosmonaut, finds vinyl issue through PsyKA Records and earns it well with six tracks/45 minutes of mostly-instrumentalist and progressive space-psych. One assumes there’s a narrative thread at work across the span, as guitarist Bill Denton, bassist Chris Sutton, keyboardist/vocalist Clive Noyes and drummer Blazej Gradziel weave their way through “Twin Sons Rising” and “New Vostok” at the outset into the easy flow of “Baikonur Cosmodrome,” the harder-hitting title-track, the fuzzy declaration of “Svetlana” and the patiently executed 10-minute closer “Transorbital,” Denton’s guitar singing all the while. These places and, maybe, characters would seem to weave together to tell the story in impressions largely open to interpretation and correspondingly open in terms of their creativity, sounding spontaneous and maybe live-recorded if not entirely improvised, instead working to a plan for where each inclusion should go or end up. As Cracked Machine’s first album, it’s an ambitious work that does far more than get the band’s feet wet. It takes them out of the atmosphere and embarks on a journey beyond that one hopes is just beginning.

Cracked Machine on Thee Facebooks

Cracked Machine at PsyKA Records webstore

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Originally announced for a June release, the third album from Louisiana’s Forming the Void, Rift, is set to be issued via Kozmik Artifactz on Aug. 17. The prog-minded four-piece have posted the video audio to come from the album in the form of a new video for the track “On We Sail.” Second of the seven total inclusions on the LP, it reaffirms the progressive heft the band has shown on their two full-lengths to-date, 2017’s Relic (review here) and 2016’s Skyward (review here), while hinting at new heights of clarity that one looks forward to hearing pan out on the rest of the record. Thus far into their prolific tenure, Forming the Void have always managed to keep on the right side of songcraft vs. exploration, making their material memorable as well as stylistically bold.

Album art, details, and the aforementioned video came down the PR wire. I’ll hope to have more to come as we get closer to the release, but till then, here’s what’s up:

FORMING THE VOID to Release New Album on Kozmik Artifactz

Following the release of last year’s critically acclaimed Relic, Louisiana’s preeminent prog warlocks, Forming The Void, are thrilled to announce news of their new album Rift, which is due for release this August on Kozmik Artifactz.

Originally formed in 2013 in Lafayette – a place with an impressive reputation for raising underground rock into realms of the unknown – Forming The Void became one of the city’s most talked about bands of 2017. With the release of their third album Relic (voted album of the year on Heavy Planet), their colossal and atmospheric sound summoned the towering hard rock riffs and progressive influence of bands like Mastodon, Baroness and Torche.

Newly signed to German label Kozmik Artifactz, in preparation for the official release of their fourth studio album Rift this summer, the band will take to the road throughout 2018 for an extensive run of live dates and festival appearances.

The first single lifted from their new album is ‘On We Sail’, an epic and devastating trip into the heart of a Sabbathian darkness, which premiered last week. Courting robed figures in hallowed forests, with the odd case or two of Miller Lite, as guitarist/vocslist James Marshall explains:

“Lyrically it’s about being on a ship and being sucked into a portal that blasts out into space, and in that moment, accepting the path into the unknown and that it might be the end of the road for you. It’s meant be a victorious thing, although it sounds really negative. We were brainstorming video ideas and wanted to go with something beyond a regular performance video and do something light-hearted. We also enlisted some help from our buddy Jai Benoit of Golgothan to play the monster and assist with the vision. This is just another night with Forming the Void and friends. It was fun to spoof the first video and we shot at the same location with some of the same people plus more of our friends. All that together just made it a comedy.”

Rift, the new studio album from Forming The Void will be released on 17th August 2018 on Kozmik Artifactz, www.kozmik-artifactz.com

TRACK LISTING:
1. Extinction Event
2. On We Sail
3. Arcane Mystic
4. Transient
5. Arrival
6. Ark Debris
7. Shrine

Forming The Void:
James Marshall – Guitar/Vocals
Shadi Omar Al-Khansa – Guitar
Luke Baker – Bass
Thomas Colley – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/formingthevoid/
https://twitter.com/forming_thevoid
https://formingthevoid.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kozmikartifactz/
https://twitter.com/kozmikartifactz
https://www.instagram.com/kozmikartifactz/
http://kozmik-artifactz.com/
http://www.facebook.com/endhipenditrecordco
http://www.instagram.com/endhipendit_record

Forming the Void, “On We Sail” official video

I’ve you’re thinking it’s been a while since the last time we heard from Indiana heavy rockers The Mound Builders, you’re right. Their last standalone offering was 2014’s Wabash War Machine (review here), though they also had a split with Pale Horseman out in 2016. Still, it’s been a minute. 2018 looks to be packed for the four-piece, however, as they’ll have three new releases on the docket.

The first is a reissue of Wabash War Machine that seems to include new art. Fair enough. The second is a split through Failure Records and Tapes with The Lurking Corpses, Hailshot and No Breaks.And the third is a to-be-recorded self-titled full-length that they band will hope to release later in the year. Details on that one are obviously pretty sparse — it doesn’t quite exist yet, you see — but it’s cool to know they’re at the point where they’re ready to get to work on it. Hopefully it’s out before 2018 is done.

They sent the news down the PR wire:

The Mound Builders plan 3 releases for 2018!

Lafayette, IN Sludge Rockers The Mound Builders plan 2 releases for 2018 leading up to a brand new full length for late Fall/early Winter.

The first release slated for April 21st (Record Store Day) will be a re-release of the now out of print EP Wabash War Machine. The re-issue features new art work by Clayton Jarvis of Abom design and will include The Mound Builders 2 newest songs Black Drink Ritual and Hashashin previously only available on the 12″ split with Pale Horseman. These songs were originally intended to be on Wabash War Machine but were abandoned due to lack of funding and time. Wabash War Machine 2.0 is how we intended to originally release it and we are excited to finally share this complete version with our fans!

The 2nd release, scheduled to drop Memorial Weekend (May 25th) will be the 3rd installment of Failure Records and Tapes 7″ series “Split Hits the Fans”. This 4 way split features a new, punk’d out version of our song Sun God as well as new music from Midwest favorites, The Lurking Corpses, Hailshot, and No Breaks. Pre-sales available now through the link below.

http://failurerecordstapes.bigcartel.com/product/the-mound-builders-hailshot-the-lurking-corpses-no-breaks

Finally we will be in the Studio late March to track our first full length release in 7 years! The Mound Builders self-title will feature 8 brand new songs of all original material and will be released on Failure Records and Tapes! We hope to complete mixing and mastering and pick up our show schedule in April to support and promote our plans!

http://themoundbuilders.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/themoundbuilders
https://twitter.com/themoundbuilder
http://themoundbuilders.com/SITE/

The Mound Builders, Wabash War Machine (2014)

Looks like a busy couple months coming up for Louisiana-based progressive heavy rockers Forming the Void. They’ve teamed up with Black Bow Records‘ own Pyreship for a new split that will be out in a couple weeks’ time via Endhipendit Record Co., a label wing of the Texas-based festival of the same name, and in the meantime have dates booked that will take them down to South by Southwest, you know, which Endhipendit is kind of playing off of, name-wise. Ironic? No. That’s not actually irony. It’s a band booking shows and releasing albums. There’s a difference.

Speaking of releasing albums, word’s also come down from that most venerable of sources — the PR wire — that Forming the Void, whose last outing was 2017’s righteously plotted Relic (review here), will issue a new full-length in June titled Rift via Kozmik Artifactz.

There’s a lot of news to keep up with, and some new audio as well, but I think you’re up to the task. Have at you:

Louisiana prog-rockers FORMING THE VOID to release new album this June on Kozmik Artifactz | Stream new split with Pyreship

Rift, the new studio album from Forming The Void is due for release this June on Kozmik Artifactz

Forming The Void/Pyreship limited edition split is released on 9th March 2018 on Endhipendit Record Co.

Following the release of last year’s critically acclaimed album Relic, Louisiana’s preeminent prog warlocks, Forming The Void, are thrilled to announce news of their signing to Kozmik Artifactz for new album Rift, US tour dates and the imminent release of a split LP with Texan sludge thugs, Pyreship.

Originally formed in 2013 in Lafayette – a place with an impressive reputation for raising underground rock into realms of the unknown – Forming The Void became one of the city’s most talked about bands of 2017. With the release of their third album Relic, their colossal and atmospheric sound summoned the towering hard rock riffs and progressive influence of bands like Mastodon, Baroness and Torche. A distinctive sound that not only marked them out as ‘ones to watch’, but a sound that promptly earned them recognition around the world as ambitious and gifted players.

Newly signed to German label Kozmik Artifactz, in preparation for the official release of their fourth studio album Rift this June, the band will take to the road throughout 2018 for an extensive run of live dates and festival appearances, including shows at South By Southwest (more info below). Before that however, this March will see the release of a limited split 10” on the Houston-based label Endhipendit Record Co. with Black Bow Records’ Pyreship. Another excellent band in ascension, Pyrsehip blend post metal and doom with a raft of 90s slowcore and noise rock influences, deftly slammed out at punishing volume.

With both bands tackling a side apiece, the two track 10” – featuring Forming The Void’s storming and celestial new work ‘To The Wolves’ – hints at electrifying things to come in what will undoubtedly be a breakout year for the Lafayette quartet.

Rift, the new studio album from Forming The Void is due for release this June on Kozmik Artifactz. In the meantime, Forming The Void/Pyreship’s split is released on 9th March 2018 through Endhipendit Record Co.

US Tour (More TBC):
Fri, 23/02 – Nighthawks – Jacksonville (FL) [w. Hollow Leg, Count the Dead, Insalubrious Minanthropes]
Sat, 24/02 – Eyedrum Art & Music Gallery – Atlanta (GA) [w. Hollow Leg, Canopy, Malevich]
Sun, 25/02 – The Cobra – Nashville (TN) [w. Deathstar Lovebeam, Eddas presented by Nashville Psych Alliance]
Wed, 14/03 – SXSW; Stoner Jam at Swan Dive – Austin (TX)
Thurs, 15/03 – SXSW; Stoner Daze at Texas Mist – Austin, (TX)

Forming The Void:
James Marshall – Guitar/Vocals
Shadi Omar Al-Khansa – Guitar
Luke Baker – Bass
Thomas Colley – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/formingthevoid/
https://twitter.com/forming_thevoid
https://formingthevoid.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kozmikartifactz/
https://twitter.com/kozmikartifactz
https://www.instagram.com/kozmikartifactz/
http://kozmik-artifactz.com/
http://www.facebook.com/endhipenditrecordco
http://www.instagram.com/endhipendit_record

They’re not so terribly far removed from the vinyl release of their second album, Relic (review here), via Lonestar Records — which followed a CD issue through Argonauta this past Spring — but as we know, Louisiana’s Forming the Void have a knack for working quickly. This past weekend found the Lafayette four-piece back in the studio working on a new single that will apparently be used as part of a split release with Houston, Texas’ Pyreship. No release date has been announced, but Forming the Void do refer to Pyreship as labelmates below, so perhaps there’s some news on that front coming sometime in the near future. I’ll keep an eye open and do the see-it-post-it thing to the best of my ability, like always.

In the meantime, I’m interested to hear where Forming the Void are headed and if we get a glimpse of that on this forthcoming split. Relic was a fast turnaround from the heavy progressive heavy rock/metallers’ 2015 debut, Skyward (review here), but a marked step forward in their development as well, so as they continue to move ahead perhaps toward a third full-length, my specific question is how their stylistic blend will shake out, where and if the psychedelic aspects of Relic will show up again, if so, how, and where the adventurousness their songwriting has shown to this point will ultimately lead them.

They made a quick announcement of the work underway on the social medias and have a gig coming up this weekend in Baton Rouge. Info follows:

“Back at it again laying down a single for a split release with our labelmates Pyreship. Shout out to our awesome engineer James Whitten at Hightower Recording!”

Forming the Void live:
08.12 Baton Rouge LA Varsity Theatre w/ Ambassador, Slounge & Drood

FORMING THE VOID is an American rock band from Lafayette, Louisiana. Formed in 2013, the band consists of James Marshall, Shadi Al-Khansa, Luke Baker, and Thomas Colley. Their unique blend of atmospheric, progressive rock with towering fuzzed out riffs places a heavy emphasis on dynamics and layers.

https://www.facebook.com/formingthevoid/
https://twitter.com/forming_thevoid
https://formingthevoid.bandcamp.com/
http://www.argonautarecords.com/shop/music-/191-forming-void-relic-cd.html
https://www.facebook.com/ArgonautaRecords
https://www.facebook.com/Lonestar-Records-142216302478941

Forming the Void, Relic (2017)

Next month will see the official vinyl release of Forming the Void‘s 2017 album, Relic (review here). Initially offered on CD via Italian imprint Argonauta Records, the Louisiana natives’ sophomore outing is available now to preorder through Lonestar Records in full-platter form, and one can hardly say it doesn’t earn the honor both in its aural and visual presentation. Guitarist/vocalist James Marshall recently took some time out for a Six Dumb Questions interview (posted here) to discuss the band’s development between their 2015 debut, Skyward (review here), and the new record, and in so doing cited vinyl as a particular goal for their latest work, so kudos and cheers to the band on seeing that come to fruition.

If you haven’t heard Relic yet — and yeah, I know you have, because you’re up on it like that — you can find the full thing streaming below. Preorder info and links follow here as well:

Forming the Void vinyl release date – July 28th

Following the release of last year’s impressive Skyward album, Forming the Void, originally formed in 2013 in Lafayette, Louisiana, has gained an impressive reputation for raising underground rock into realms of the previously unknown. Atmospheric, heavy and progressive yet losing none of these earnest qualities at volume, they layer their ambitions as thickly as the riffs that help transmit their visions. Newly signed to Italian label Argonauta Records, this March will see the release of their third album Relic. Like Skyward before it, it draws on one hell of a colossal sound. Summoning the towering hard rock riffs and progressive influence of bands like Mastodon, Baroness and Torche, Relic finds the four piece illustrating their bold and adventurous ideas in the most vivid of colours.

PRE-ORDER! Release: 28th of July 2017!

Coke-bottle clear vinyl is limited to 500 copies!
https://www.lonestar-recs.de/you-got-the-choice/shop/

Forming The Void:
James Marshall – Guitar/Vocals
Shadi Omar Al-Khansa – Guitar
Luke Baker – Bass
Jordan Boyd – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/formingthevoid/
https://twitter.com/forming_thevoid
https://formingthevoid.bandcamp.com/
http://www.argonautarecords.com/shop/music-/191-forming-void-relic-cd.html
https://www.facebook.com/ArgonautaRecords
https://www.facebook.com/Lonestar-Records-142216302478941

Forming the Void, Relic (2017)

We’re at less than a month’s remove from the release date of Forming the Void‘s second album, Relic (review here), and already it’s apparent that the Louisiana four-piece are turning heads in their direction. The follow-up to 2015’s Skyward (review here) is also the first outing for the band to be issued through Italy’s Argonauta Records, and it further solidifies the progressive charge of its predecessor with a crisp delivery and a marked sense of scope across its span. It toys with but is by no means subject to heavy rock genre restrictions, and one finds it no less at home in the aggro-catchiness of “Biolazar” and the post-Torche lumber of “Plumes” than it is in the more tripped-out roll of “Unto the Smoke” or the take on Led Zeppelin‘s “Kashmir” that rounds out.

United by a clean and clearheaded production, Relic freely careens between a swath of influences from the modern sphere: here touching on Baroness-style melody, there on Eastern-scale guitar leads like that in “Endless Road.” And though they don’t shy away from acknowledging the complexity of what they’re doing, neither do the album’s eight tracks come across as inflated. If anything, as asserted below by guitarist/vocalist James Marshall — joined in the band by guitarist Shadi Omar Al-Khansa, bassist Luke Baker and drummer Jordan Boyd — they’ve become stronger in terms of their editorial voice, so that the resulting output is all the more efficient and communicative in its purposes. That’s an ongoing process, of course, but so is creativity as a whole, and Relic sees Forming the Void take pivotal forward steps on a number of levels, establishing them as an act consciously dedicated to their sonic progression.

Below, Marshall talks about the origins of the band, what they learned from Skyward going into Relic, the mysterious figure on the front cover of both their albums to-date, working with Argonauta and more.

Please enjoy the following Six Dumb Questions:

Six Dumb Questions with Forming the Void

Tell me about getting Forming the Void together. Did you have a sound in mind first, or did you start playing and then the band’s style began to take shape? 

When I first started looking for people to play in the band, I was just looking to play rock music. When we all got together in a room, each of our strengths just naturally came through in the music. As we’ve grown, we’ve steadily tried to play on those strengths more. The most drastic change is we’ve been steadily getting heavier.

Talk about your writing process, in general and for Relic particularly. What lessons did you learn from Skyward and how were you able to bring them into the new album?

With Relic the ideas were a lot more deliberate rather than the spontaneous jam room ideas that led to Skyward. I think each approach has its merits, but it was nice to be able to sit down and A-B parts to get a better idea of how we wanted something to flow. One lesson I think we took from Skyward was editing and trimming parts down if they didn’t serve a purpose. We have less long music breaks in Relic but I think it’s more well-packaged that way.

How long were you in the studio this time? How did the recording experience compare to when you put together Skyward? It seems like a really quick span between the two records.

We started tracking Relic in mid-July and finished reamping stuff mid-October. It was a very different experience than Skyward, which we tracked in a few days. We recorded drums at my buddy (and mastering engineer) Jai‘s house and tracked the rest at my house. It was a good and a bad thing to have that much time to obsess over it.

Both album covers feature hooded figures and the classic comic style of David Paul Seymour. Does that hooded character on the front of Relic have some special significance to the band? Does he have a name? Is there a story being told about him either through the album or the art?

There’s something nice about having a figure defined by his ambiguity. I think it’s a lot like our music; kind of hard to put a finger on it. There’s definitely a sense of mystery surrounding the artwork, especially the hooded figure, which is intentional. In that vein, I’ve never thought of giving him a name or a backstory. He’s just omnipresent; a veiled servant to a greater purpose.

How did signing to Argonauta Records come about and how has it been releasing the album with them?

Our friend Jason Ogle from Electric Age actually got me in touch Argonauta. It’s been really cool. [Label head] Gero has been incredibly helpful throughout the whole process and Argonauta has been really nice to work with. I couldn’t have asked for anything better from our first signing experience.

Any plans or closing words you want to mention?

We recently signed a deal with Lonestar Records from Germany to release Relic on vinyl. We’re pretty excited to have that coming. It should be released sometime between June 2nd and 9th. Vinyl has been a goal of mine for a while so we’re pretty stoked to finally have that come to fruition.

Forming the Void on Thee Facebooks

Forming the Void on Twitter

Forming the Void on Bandcamp

Relic at Argonauta Records

Argonauta Records on Thee Facebooks

Lonestar Records on Thee Facebooks