THE ANSWER LIES IN THE BLACK VOID

The doom double-team proving misery does love company

THE ANSWER LIES In The Black Void aren’t interested in escapism. Wearing tragedy and despair like a warm blanket against the outside the world, the doom metal band’s philosophy of facing their demons head-on is pointed out plainly in their name. “Doom feels like home to me,” admits founder Martina Horváth. “It’s where I can put more of myself into the music than anywhere else, without compromise.”

Decidedly removed from Martina’s other job as songwriter and vocalist for black metal experimentalists Thy Catafalque, The Answer Lies In The

Black Void formed in 2020 as a creative partnership between Martina and multi-instrumentalist Jason Köhnen

(Bong-ra). The pair initially collaborated in the group Mansur, but soon found their shared love of doom demanded an outlet of its own. “Our inspirations aren’t just in the kind of music we wanted to make, but in the emotions we wanted to tackle,” Jason explains.

Equal parts melancholia and ethereal beauty, The Answer Lies In The Black

Void drew on doom’s greats as a foundational sonic blueprint. Citing Cathedral’s Forest Of Equilibrium and My Dying Bride’s Dreadful Hours as influences whilst also namechecking Crowbar, Saint Vitus and Trees Of Eternity, the band’s debut Forlorn serves as a distillation of doom metal’s history whilst embracing the genre’s contemporary champions. “There’s a full range,” Jason says. “We go from the hopeful to the hopelessly miserable, classic-style funeral doom out to industrial-type stuff. We wanted to leave ourselves plenty of options for future albums.”

FORLORN IS OUT NOW VIA BURNING WORLD RECORDS