When it comes to extreme music, the first thing that typically comes to mind is speed, aggression...how hard and loudly you can pummel the listener into submission, but that's not the be-all and end-all; let me introduce you to EMPTINESS. Formed in Brussels, Belgium back in 1998, this quartet of the dark arts (consisting of vocalist/bassist Jeremie Bezier, guitarist/synth programmer Olve Lamer, guitarist Peter Verwimp and drummer Jonas Sanders) take all that's bleak and horrifying, turning it into some of the most ambient yet haunting music you could imagine in alternative gothic music. Having recently signed to SEASON OF MIST, they've just dropped their new album "Not For Music"...let's find out why...
We get underway with "Meat Heart" and it's all seemingly very chilled, very peaceful with it's gentle synths, but the rumblings soon begin and Jeremie's hushed, husky vocal leads us with intrigue right towards the gates of hell, sounding somewhere between the likes of Carl McCoy of FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM and Trevor Bamford of MIDNIGHT CONFIGURATION, with his whispered sand-paper laced growl, coupled with the despairing drone of the guitars, it really is the stuff of nightmares.
"It Might Be", again, might be very soft on first impression but it's not long before we have more of the same dreary tones engulfing the listener in a rising tide of hypnotic misery, and although while "Circle Girl" is still to a degree mellow, you can hear the black metal influence clear as night. At their most accessible, "Ever" musically at least channels the darkest electronic vibes of say KILLING JOKE and DEPECHE MODE and as the only track under five minutes, would make a great choice for a single, before "Let It Fall" closes the album with some up-tempo, frenetic progressive metal, acting as a crescendo to a collective body of music, as oppose to generically being just, the last song, giving the record a sense of closure.
Emptiness here, despite what their name suggests, flood your senses with sonic ephialtes; the soundscapes are vast and foreboding, often leaving the listener in a hellish trance, with the mere 7-track album sounding as though the nightmare never ends...but not in a boring way, for it's been produced well. If you like your alternative, gothic-tinged metal this bleak, give it a listen but ultimately, not for music? Not really for everyone in general... [4]
We get underway with "Meat Heart" and it's all seemingly very chilled, very peaceful with it's gentle synths, but the rumblings soon begin and Jeremie's hushed, husky vocal leads us with intrigue right towards the gates of hell, sounding somewhere between the likes of Carl McCoy of FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM and Trevor Bamford of MIDNIGHT CONFIGURATION, with his whispered sand-paper laced growl, coupled with the despairing drone of the guitars, it really is the stuff of nightmares.
"It Might Be", again, might be very soft on first impression but it's not long before we have more of the same dreary tones engulfing the listener in a rising tide of hypnotic misery, and although while "Circle Girl" is still to a degree mellow, you can hear the black metal influence clear as night. At their most accessible, "Ever" musically at least channels the darkest electronic vibes of say KILLING JOKE and DEPECHE MODE and as the only track under five minutes, would make a great choice for a single, before "Let It Fall" closes the album with some up-tempo, frenetic progressive metal, acting as a crescendo to a collective body of music, as oppose to generically being just, the last song, giving the record a sense of closure.
Emptiness here, despite what their name suggests, flood your senses with sonic ephialtes; the soundscapes are vast and foreboding, often leaving the listener in a hellish trance, with the mere 7-track album sounding as though the nightmare never ends...but not in a boring way, for it's been produced well. If you like your alternative, gothic-tinged metal this bleak, give it a listen but ultimately, not for music? Not really for everyone in general... [4]
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