The shape-shifting Belgian quartet EMPTINESS returns with 'Vide,' their first new album in four years. 'Vide' (the French word for empty) sees the band veer away from the mechanical foreboding of 2017's 'Not For Music' into a more introspective and deconstructed direction. It unfolds like a fever dream, with each track falling into hazy rhythmic patterns and featuring haunting vocals that hang in the ether.
Founded in Europe's center of gravity, Brussels (BE), in the year 1998, EMPTINESS embarked on their musical journey with a burning vision to delve deep into darkness and horror. While the band was taking musical inspiration from different extreme styles such as black and death metal, the Belgians approached the music in an open minded manner of continuous experimentation.
Following their inception, EMPTINESS first released the two demos 'Eternal Rising' (2000) and 'Necrorgy' (2002) that received a remarkable welcome in the underground. Yet with each new album, 'Guilty to Exist' (2004), 'Oblivion' (2007), 'Error' (2012), and 'Nothing but the Whole' (2014), the Belgians were also increasingly leaving a mark in mainstream music press.
EMPTINESS scored the devil's luck and won the perfect production set-up to create new sinister soundscapes during the recordings of 'Not For Music' in 2017. After recording in their own Blackout Studio, the Belgians received an invitation to further enhance the production of 'Not for Music' by Jeordie White aka Twiggy Ramirez (MARILYN MANSON, A PERFECT CIRCLE, NINE INCH NAILS). The final mix and mastering was done by Sean Beavan (GUNS N' ROSES, NIN, SLAYER).
'Vide' (2021) was meant as a claustrophobic album, a journey of an infinite mind stuck into a world too small. Questioning the essence of once perceptions, this album invites you to rethink your grasp of reality. To that end, it was important for EMPTINESS to be isolated during its experimentations. Recordings would take place sometimes in confined spaces like apartments or a cabin in the woods, and sometimes on a city roof allowing to contemplate a strange human world from above. Involvement was strictly limited to the band members who took care of all audio production and visuals work. The pandemic and lockdown happened while recording was in progress; a materialization of the imaginary world being created. The album either by coincidence or not, is in tune with our dissonant times.
Line-up
Jérémie Bézier: Bass, Vocals
Olivier Lomer: Guitar, Synths
David Alexandre Parquier: Synth
Jonas Sanders: Drums, Percussions
Style: Misery Pop
Recording Studio & Sound Engineers:
Recorded with a portable recording setup, in an apartment, a cabin in the woods and a rooftop. Drums recorded in Blackout studio (BE).
Producer/Sound engineer: Jérémie Bézier
Mixing & Mastering: Jérémie Bézier
Cover art: Olivier Lomer
Pre-sales: https://redirect.season-of-mist.com/EmptinessVide
For more on EMPTINESS, visit the band's official FACEBOOK, WEBSITE, and BANDCAMP.
"Emptiness is an old man, isolated for too long, bitter, he's changing again." Belgian dark metal outfit EMPTINESS has teamed up with the prestigious Roadburn Festival to premiere the full album stream of their new opus 'Vide' ahead of tomorrow's release! You can now listen to the album in full.
EMPTINESS comments on the stream:
"Nothing to enjoy here, it's death.
Enjoy death."
'Vide' is due on February 12 and is completely produced by vocalist/bass player Jérémie Bézier, who is trying to create something authentic and avoid all external energies. The tracking mostly happened during the Belgian lockdown, in his apartment and rooftop 7th floor in Brussels. Pre-orders are now available HERE.