Etheric Void

Country of origin:Canada

Location:London, Ontario

Status:Active

Formed in:2007

Genre:Ambient Black Metal

Lyrical themes:Morals, Inner-Self

Current label:Fatal Productions

Years active:2007-present

The problem with raw/ambient-ish black metal is that most usual musical standards fail to apply. Whereas things like horrible production, a loose, improvised feel, lack of melody etc. would be pretty terrible for most genres of music, those all are hallmarks of this kind of music; the "raw" part in the genre term is there for a reason. While some might go "it's all about the atmosphere", well, creating atmosphere doesn't take a huge amount of skill, just a bit of reverb and some muddy production. Others will talk about spirit and the like, again- meaningless and easy to fake.

So despite the complete lack of any objective reasons, I'd say this band is good, though I don't really know why. Etheric Void sound sort of like a really strange demo version of Blut Aus Nord's "Mort", with a bit of Paysage D'Hiver's ambient drifts thrown in here and there. Production is truly horrible but the way the ambient parts, riffs and entire songs flow seamlessly suggests that there's a bit more effort here then merely improvising over a drum machine. There's a few of those "pick random notes on the fretboard, make a dissonant arpeggio" Xasthur style riffs but for the most part things follow an altogether stranger path (and a path that requires a good deal more effort); the strange, crumbling, seasick sort of guitar tone pounding out really dissonant, Blut Aus Nord style riffs that sound really, really wrong.

It's hard to think up good metaphors for much of the riffs really, they're just so alien and freaking weird and unnatural. The use of haunting clear tones hovering around in the ambient parts really highlight the oddness. Meditations III & IV are good enough examples of this, although they're all bizarre enough. V would probably be my standout, pitch black ambient sharing space with a fairly normal riff and subtle violin backing, all before a super simple black metal riff comes along with some odd, wobbly glitch effects panning around. Very Lovecraftian this, all of these strange, unnatural sounds bringing up ideas of wings, tentacles and buildings with unearthly geometry. Hell, even the drum machines sounds completely unnatural; very squelchy I guess, like you're stepping on some shuggoth guts.

While I wouldn't say this is an enjoyable listen, it is freakin' weird, and that's what I look for whenever I have a hankering for some shitty, sub-demo quality outsider black metal. Anyone can get a drum machine and tremelo pick a few two note minor chords; not everyone can get a drum machine and make some bizarre, otherworldly music. Whoever made this is fairly sick in the head. To conclude, then: It's got horrible production, no melody and is a rather nasty listen. So you should probably get it.

Threnodies of Death Ritual Rites is somehow all the power of black metal and obscure ambient put together with a special touch of both ugly and malevolent sounds mixed with listenable and meditative ambient parts. Perhaps the main reason why I like it lies within the strange, unusual and especially different sound that is created. I guess you have to hear it on your own, it’s hard to describe such magnificent sound.

Each track from this album speaks for itself. For example, the opening track In All Praise Heavenly Poison starts with kind of generic black metal sound, but the ambience in the background soon tells us that this won’t be an already heard and boring album. As we follow the meditative sound, this album is equipped with heavy crushing bass and rather good vocals, simple riffs and, as stated before, gloomy ambience. Almost each track is more than 5 minutes long, some songs are incredibly slow, you will imagine yourself dying in pain for hours, faster parts are accompanied with melancholic murky ambient.


All in all, this is a must-have for every black/ambient listener. In my opinion, this is flawless, some kind of perfection. This is something you don’t want to miss and it stays in your mind. Acrimonia, the sole member behind the curtain of this one-man band, did an excellent job putting From His Words Speaks The Temples of Fire as the last track, this one will stay in your head for days. Another track that worth mentioning is definitely Poverty Shall Be The Profit of the Blind, a great dynamic of loud and quiet parts. I recommend this piece of art to everyone interested in discovering new atypical bands, for all those who seek great sound and are tired of repetitive black metal acts.

This is something beyond words; you just have to try it. To sum this up, 6 tracks filled up with perfect dark sound and an breath of fresh air to the black metal scene.

There is another full length on its way so keep an eye on it.