Lay Bare Recordings will present the first-to-my-knowledge Lay Bare Fest in London on Sept. 27, with the five-so-far acts playing The Black Heart to be joined by I don’t know how many more. The forward-thinking Netherlands-based label will showcase acts from its international roster of artists including Germany’s Coltaine — whose new album is set to release through Lay Bare in September — as well as Rosy Finch from Spain, the industrialist Mrs Frighthouse from Scotland, and the dark folk of Kariti and the post-metallic The Answer Lies in the Black Void, making for a lineup-thus-far that’s as broad stylistically as it is geographically.

And I guess even if you’re not going to be traveling to Camden Town to check out the show at The Black Heart, the underlying message here is that digging into these acts — each for different reasons, each offering something of their own — is advisable. Lay Bare consistently backs bands who prize their creative individuality across genre lines, and it seems accordingly like the show’s ‘Frequencies Across Borders’ subtitle — which is awesome; more unity, less division — will likewise transcend methodologies. If you’re curious to know who else will be added, the label’s roster is something of a weirdo dream-team, so take your pick. I’ll forego speculation so as not to feel silly later.

But this is awesome and worth knowing about whether you will see it or not. That’s all. It came from social media:

Tickets are now live for Lay Bare Fest – Frequencies Across Borders at The Black Heart!

Line-up so far:

Coltaine (DE)

Rosy Finch (SP)

Mrs Frighthouse (UK)

kariti (RU/IT)

The Answer Lies In The Black Void (HU/NL)

The label showcase festival will feature exclusive album release shows from some of the Lay Bare Recordings roster. More announcements coming soon…

https://laybarerecordings.com/
https://www.facebook.com/laybarerecordings/
https://www.instagram.com/laybarerecordings/
https://laybarerecordings.bandcamp.com/

Mrs Frighthouse, “DIY Exorcism” (2024)

I missed the 2023 second album from the cumbersomely named atmospheric, melancholic doom metal duo The Answer Lies in Black Void, with Martina Horváth (Mansur, Thy Catafalque, etc.) on vocals and Jason Köhnen (Celestial Season, Bong-Ra, Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation, etc.) handling the instruments backing, but I did dig the first one well enough to remember it when I saw word that the project had been picked up by Lay Bare Recordings to release a third long-player later this year. That should give me a little bit of time to get caught up. If you’re in the same boat, I put the Bandcamp player for Thou Shalt, that 2023 sophomore outing, at the bottom of the post. One likes to be thorough in sharing news that’s like a week old at this point. Sorry kids, I’m doing my best and it turns out that still kind of sucks.

Nonetheless, the news here is good and don’t let my unkind self-talk stop you from vibing positive accordingly. The following comes from Lay Bare on socials:

Oh My Word, New Signing!!

Lay Bare Recordings is honoured and elated to welcome The Answer Lies In The Black Void The Answer Lies in the Black Void to the Lay Bare Family!

An authentic and genuine voice that touches the soul, weaving magic on stage and transmitting raw emotion with every note. Their music is a journey—dark, immersive, and deeply moving.

We’re absolutely thrilled about this signing and even more excited to announce that a new album is on the horizon, set for release in the autumn.

We are already excited at the thought of sharing with you more of our journey with The Answer Lies in The Black Void as they finish work on their astonishing new album!

https://www.facebook.com/TheAnswerLiesInTheBlackVoid
https://www.instagram.com/theanswerliesintheblackvoid/
https://theanswerliesintheblackvoid.bandcamp.com/

https://laybarerecordings.com/
https://www.facebook.com/laybarerecordings/
https://www.instagram.com/laybarerecordings/
https://laybarerecordings.bandcamp.com/

The Answer Lies in the Black Void signing video

The Answer Lies in the Black Void, Thou Shalt (2023)

Crazy productive day on my end. You know how I know? It’s a week ago for me right now. That’s right. You’re reading this — or you’re not, in which case, meh — on Friday, Oct. 1, which is the air date for Ep. 69 of The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal. For me though it’s Sept. 24. I just turned in the playlist and the voice tracks for this show, then set up the back ends for nearly this entire week’s worth of posts, including the complete Quarterly Review and the other premieres slated between its beginning and the day after it ends. That’s next art, links, quotes, embed, tags, etc. placed for a post not going live for another week and a half for me. Feeling pretty good about that.

So while I am and before the site invariably implodes as happens almost every time I feel good about anything, here’s the playlist for this show. And it just so happens I feel really good about this too. Rocks at the start, gets super-heavy, then trips out in the second hour. It’s my kind of jam. Weird, in other words. I very, very much hope you find something in here to dig. If you’ve been keeping up with the Quarterly Review, you’ll recognize some of this for sure. And again, if not, meh. Happy October. Fall is my favorite season.

Thanks for listening if you do and/or reading. I hope you enjoy.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 10.01.21

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Oct. 15 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gimme Metal website

The Obelisk on Facebook

Also collaborators in the less-cumbersomely-named recent outfit Mansur, Thy Catafalque‘s Martina Horváth (based in Hungary) and Bong-Ra‘s Jason Köhnen (also a founder of Celestial Season in the Netherlands) have announced they’re releasing their debut album under the banner of The Answer Lies in the Black Void, titled Forlorn, on Sept. 24 through Burning World Records. At this time, right now, today, there are two songs from the impending offering streaming; the opener “Mina” and its presumed side B counterpart, “Become Undone,” the latter arriving with a video to accompany. The tracks boast different sounds but are united in atmosphere and an underlying sense of extremity, and while I obviously haven’t heard the full album yet, going from the descriptions below, that would seem to be the intention.

Audio and video are down at the bottom, PR wire info follows here:

THE ANSWER LIES IN THE BLACK VOID ANNOUNCE THE DEBUT ALBUM FORLORN

ARRIVING 24TH SEPTEMBER VIA BURNING WORLD RECORDS

The Answer Lies In The Black Void is a collaboration between Martina Horváth (singer for the avant-garde metal project Thy Catafalque) and Jason Köhnen (Celestial Season, Bong-Ra, ex-The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble) born out of their shared passion for doom.

The debut album, Forlorn is an enveloping exploration of the doom genre and the myriad means of expression within it – journeying from a classic old-school sound to something more contemporary, then expanding further into sludge and industrial terrain, also incorporating elements of Martina’s background in Hungarian folk music. The Answer Lies In The Black Void seeks to embrace beauty in darkness and fragility in heaviness.

In their own words, “Forlorn explores the sacred union of the divine feminine and masculine, the light and the dark, the shadows that hide within and the trials of love, lust and loss”

Burning World Records shall be releasing Forlorn on all formats on 24th September.

Forlorn was written and recorded during the pandemic. Mixed and mastered by Daniel Azar Arendarski, and with guest contributions from Tamas Katai of Thy Catafalque and Olly Smit of Celestial Season.

The duo predominantly work together in their music project MANSUR accompanied by Dmitry El Demerdashi (ex-PHURPA) releasing their albums on Denovali Records.

Martina has been part of Thy Catafalque since 2017 and with MANSUR since 2020. Studying Hungarian folk music since the age of five. Participating in traditional folk bands and singing in several choirs including the St. Paul’s Cathedral’s choir in London. Her musical career started with electro/folk band (Zombori), a folk metal band called (Niburta) and her own doom metal band called Nulah.

Jason was a founding member of Celestial Season back in 1992, founding member of The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble (2001) and the Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation. Jason has performed solo as Bong-Ra since 1998 with which a John Peel Session was recorded and two performances at Glastonbury, and founded MANSUR in 2020.

FORLORN TRACK LIST:
1. MINA
2. BARREN
3. RUBICON
4. MOULT
5. FOR NEVERMORE
6. BECOME UNDONE
7. OKKULTAS
8. WHITE DOVE
9. CURSE

Music : Martina Horváth / Jason Köhnen
Production: Jason Köhnen
Mix/Mastering: Daniel Azar Arendarski
Artwork : Luciana Lupe Vasconcelos
Logo : Karmazid

https://www.facebook.com/TheAnswerLiesInTheBlackVoid
https://www.instagram.com/theanswerliesintheblackvoid/
https://theanswerliesintheblackvoid.bandcamp.com/
https://www.burningworldrecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/burningworldrecords/
https://www.instagram.com/burningworldrecords/

The Answer Lies in the Black Void, Forlorn (2021)

The Answer Lies in the Black Void, “Become Undone” official video