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Extreme music has always been drawn towards the dark side of artistic expression. This has often led to an ever escalating race of trying to push the boundaries by just becoming harder, faster, and somehow louder.
EMPTINESS beg to differ and their new album ‘Not for Music’ makes abundantly clear just how far the Belgian explorers of the tenebrous are willing to go.
Founded in Europe’s centre of gravity, Brussels, Belgium in the year 1998, EMPTINESS embarked on their musical journey with a burning vision to delve deep into darkness and horror. While the band was taking musical inspiration from different extreme styles such as black and death metal, the Belgians approached them in an open minded manner of continuous experimentation.
‘Not for Music’ embeds those early influences in ambient soundscapes that are imbued with a sinister foreboding of something evil lurking underneath those often elegant textures and surfaces. Strings and electronics blend seamlessly into an overarching sound of rising darkness that embeds eerily rasping vocals that scratch along frayed nerve ends like the dry snakeskin whispering of claws gliding over ancient vellum filled with arcane symbols and forbidden knowledge. Yet far from dwelling in the distant past, this horror has firmly settled within the concrete, glass and steel vistas of a modern metropolis in our time.
EMPTINESS scored the devil’s luck and won the perfect production set-up to create these sinister soundscapes. After recording in their own Blackout Studio, the Belgians received an invitation to further enhance the production of ‘Not for Music’ by Jeordie White aka Twiggy Ramirez (MARILYN MANSON, A PERFECT CIRCLE, NINE INCH NAILS), who contacted the band after being impressed by their previous album ‘Nothing but the Whole’ (2014). Gladly accepting his invitation to Los Angeles, EMPTINESS furthermore used the golden opportunity to work in this city with Sean Beavan (GUNS N’ ROSES, NIN, SLAYER) at Redrum Studio at the final mix and mastering.
Following their inception, EMPTINESS first released the two demos ‘Eternal Rising’ (2000) and ‘Necrorgy’ (2002) that received a remarkable welcome in the underground. Yet with each new album, ‘Guilty to Exist’ (2004), ‘Oblivion’ (2007), ‘Error’ (2012), and ‘Nothing but the Whole’, the Belgians were also increasingly leaving a mark in mainstream music press.
Now EMPTINESS dare you to close your eyes and let ‘Not for Music’ lure you into their realm of dark music. Do not let fear of the unknown distract you!
Line-up
Jeremie Bezier: vocals, bass
Olivier Lomer- Wilbers: guitars, synths
Peter Verwimp: guitars, drones
Jonas Sanders: drums, percussion
www.emptiness.be
www.facebook.com/Emptiness.be
Style: Dark music
EMPTINESS have just been announced by the prestigious ROADBURN festival to join label mates CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX, AUÐN, and ZHRINE at the 2017 edition! Pre-sale of the very limited tickets will start this Thursday. A full list of announced shows can be viewed below.
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