Location: San Antonio, Texas
Country: USA
Genre: Symphonic funeral doom metal
Full length: Into Darkness Ever More Profound
Format: Digital, CD, jewel case CD (limited to 300 copies)
Label: Funere (Armenia)
Release date: January 6, 2023
The Howling Void is a solo project hailing from San Antonio, Texas, with Ryan Wilson as its driving force. According to Encyclopedia Metallum, he's been in Crowhurst, Endless Disease, Excantation, Intestinal Disgorge, Ischemic Necrosis, Liquid Viscera, Pneuma Hagion, Profundum, and many more bands and projects. "Megaliths of the Abyss" was Wilson's debut release when he was doing The Howling Void in the late 2000s.
Once again being late to the party, I can only rate him as a musician based on his latest Howling Void album "Into Darkness Ever More Profound". Going by the years of experience he has had recording solo and with other musicians, I imagined what the album must sound like, and how deep he dives into the darkness of his own mind and soul. My mind wondered if this album was a next step towards music oblivion and how profound said step could be.
This project is said to harbor a morbid fascination with human mortality and what lies beyond the grave, if indeed anything does. In the past, Wilson experimented with folk themes and clean vocals to accompany his approach to funeral doom metal, but now he's said to be returning to the orchestral guitar harmonies and synthesizers he created on his earlier albums. Bearing this in mind, you might want to reconsider before judging this as another creation of a warped, self-hating mind if you’re expecting to hear something negative, dismal and depressive.
Granted, song titles like “Impenetrable Gloom” and “Deeper, Darker Waters” may give an early impression that you’re in for this, but instead of something triggering despondent, inconsolably grief-stricken thoughts, you get four stunningly resplendent tracks depicting the beauty of said mysteries, with gorgeous songwriting and musicianship. Like My Dying Bride and Enchantment crossed with Paradise Lost and Pink Floyd with lots of soothing atmosphere and a minimal amount of low-pitched, insightful verses, these songs depict endless meditations about what happens when the physical ceases to exist, presented in a serene light, suggesting that mortality is a natural part of life.
“Into Darkness Ever More Profound” will keep you captivated, and will inspire you to check out The Howling Void's other albums. –Dave Wolff
Lineup:
Ryan Wilson: Vocals, all instruments
Track list:
1. Into Darkness Ever More Profound
2. Impenetrable Gloom
3. Deeper, Darker Waters
4. The End of Endings
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