Sonny92
Some nice atmospheric funeral doom here, with My Dying Bride-influenced gothic undertones. Good variety of material rather than uniformly melancholic sonic monoliths. Most of the songs build from fairly gentle beginnings to heaving crescendos. Of particular note is second track, Weakness, an acoustic guitar-led funereal tour-de-force.
Sanity Renegade
Once in a while you come across an album that thoroughly engrosses you, even if you have apprehensions about their style of choice. Il Vuoto's latest is one such record that pulls the listener down with it's emotional weight while also dashing out a weird sense of reprieve at the same time. Every second of this record's nearly hour long run time is designed to cause the most effective emotional impact impossible!
Favorite track: Her Fragile Limbs.
My scars devouring
I forgot to swallow time
This night, weeps alluring
Today, misery is mine.
I shall die again
Fulfil the last page
In this void succumbs
Yet the memory is mine.
Behold the creation
Mother, oh every drop.
Distil the purest essence of lucid woe.
Dreams, in liquid form
Bitter swallowing ghost
Feeding the weakest side of my heart.
The perceived distance between me and the sky will be filled tonight.
Watching the world from above, sailing the starlit firmament.
Pushed even below the crimson death, always stealing from life.
Feeling no guilt or pain, the imperfection of making this real.
Five angles of purity to each corner of emptiness.
This time the night is mine.
This time the night is all mine…
I think I have never trust in anyone of you, nor I think I never will.
On the very last day of bright, the scorched earth.
The call of the icy soil I couldn't avoid to answer.
Five days of peace, my mind slept unconscious.
Longing for the quietest of skies, when my limbs can sleep forever and ever again.
I made my best to make you suffer,
You're doing your best to make me repent.
Five stars of denial
And flickering dreams
In this cold slumber
And bleeding walls
I won't see.
Five angles of perfection
Of bodies aborted
And sights distorted
Through my lust and perversion
I won't see
Tonight I failed again
Tonight we slept again
In this fiery embrace
Where we were left.
Five days of cleansing
The night is drawing near.
Trying to find redemption
Get rid of all this dirt.
I won't tell…
Five minutes of pureness
Washing the days off.
Sewing self -inflicted wounds
While carrying the burden away.
Tonight I've failed again
(as the dusk's been kissing me)
Together we've slept my friends
(while stars have been watching us)
The light of creation
The morning of grace
The flowering of life
I won't see any of this.
Il Vuoto is the noise of sorrow and distress…a solo Funeral Doom / Drone project hailing from Piacenza, Italy, created by the same mastermind behind the excellent Black Metal project Chiral. In addition to some demo albums, Il Vuoto released a debut album, entitled “Weakness” in the summer of 2015, and now we present the second observation, entitled “Vastness”.
“Vastness” is an album about sorrow. Each song on the album discusses sorrow from a different perspective and point of view. Universal sorrow, intimate sorrow, mental illness, suicide, and cleansing are ever-present themes on an album that accurately represents the complicated feelings of sorrow by being at once devastating and soul-crushing as well as melancholic and sublime.
From a base of slow pulsing Atmospheric/Funeral Doom, to hints of galloping Black Metal, dreamy Post-rock, and melancholic acoustic sections, this is an album that is not easily classifiable. The vocals range from powerful gutturals, anguished screams, cleans, and spoken word, and many of the lengthy songs on the album shift seamlessly from Funeral Doom sections to a Black Metal onslaught, before taking you on a trip through an introspective section. “Vastness” is expansive and exploratory, going in the directions dictated by the tales told, exploring real life stories of suicide, illness, and psychological disorders wrapped around the universal theme of sorrow central to the human experience.
“Vastness” is an album drenched in atmosphere, reflection, and genuine emotion which should appeal to fans of bands such as Nortt, Ea, Mournful Congregation, Monumentum, and Angelic Process among others.
Releasing February 12 on a 4 panel digipack with a 12 page booklet through Hypnotic Dirge Records
“The Stars gather now in circle
And I could hold this forever
No horizon is as empty
As mine will ever be
"‘Vastness’ is a sumptuous feast of dark emotions and fears , able to bring you to tears whilst wearing the broadest smile"
-Planet Mosh
"There’s not a moment in all of “Vastness” that I felt wasn’t amazingly compelling or immensely immersive with how well this five-track monster became an entity all its own almost immediately. From one beautiful success after another, Il Vuoto has created something truly special the likes of which I refuse to let become forgotten in today’s climate."
-Headbangers Review
"What a masterpiece. Really, this is very very very very good."
-Blessed Altar Zine
"Don’t think funeral doom is for you? This is an album that might change your mind."
-Games, Brrraaains and a Headbanging Life
"“Vastness” es, sin duda, un gran trabajo de Funeral Doom, el cual recomiendo encarecidamente a todas aquellas personas amantes de bandas como Bell Witch o Mournful Congregation. No quedaréis defraudados en absoluto."
-Broken Tomb Magazine
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Hypnotic Dirge Records is an independent record label and webshop based in Saskatchewan, Canada and Lisbon, Portugal active since 2008. Our intention and raison d'être is to release quality expressive and eclectic art through aural manifestations.
Sorrowful indeed. Utterly beautiful blackened doom metal with melody that draws out a cathartic release. Its works like these that have me believe what Schopenhauer said about music was true, that it speaks truth to what is at our most core. Camelus Dromedarius
Gorgeous blackened death-doom with powerful melodic moments and a truly enthralling atmosphere. I recommend this even if you don't usually go in for slower-paced metal, these guys are absolute masters of holding your attention. Slut Aus Nord
A blackened doom concept record about the very real problem of amphibian extinction, “Croak” is a punishing, essential listen. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 23, 2022