One man’s quest to mine the depths of sludge metal continues, as long-time Doomed & Stoned contributor Shawn Gibson reaches out to the inimitable BODY VOID. Read along as Willow takes us into their world, including the band’s third full-length, ‘Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth’ (2021) – out now on Prosthetic Records. (Editor)

How is Body Void these days?

Pretty good, all things considered.

You changed the band name from Devoid to Body Void. What prompted the name change?

We mostly just wanted a more unique name that no one else had. There were a number of bands named Devoid and we realized it was an ultimately arbitrary thing we didn’t want holding us back.

I still think of Body Void as a West Coast band, but you’ve been East for a while now.

We started the band on the West Coast and then moved east in 2019. Eddie Holgerson (drums) and I actually live together on the East Coast now.

There are some powerful feelings underlying your new record, 'Bury me Beneath This Rotting Earth.’

The album is kind of a complicated love letter to the planet Earth. This sense that it’s worth fighting the oppressive structures that have brought it to ruin even with how bleak things look. There’s obviously a lot of anger, but it’s born out of that urgency and love.

How do you make those gargantuan riffs that always manage to floor us?

I use a Kramer DMZ-1000 aluminum neck guitar tuned to drop F# with a couple different kinds of distortion pedals running into about 300 watts of amp power.

This is your first LP on the Prosthetic Records label. How’d you get on board with them?

Some friends of ours on the label, Vile Creature and Bismuth, encouraged us to send our music to them when we were looking for a new label home. Prosthetic seemed excited to work together and it’s been really great. It’s opened a lot of doors for us and we’ve accomplished a lot of things we weren’t able to do in the past.

The artwork for 'Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth’ artwork was done by Ibay Arifin Suradi. His stuff blows my mind!

Ibay has been doing our artwork since we were Devoid, so we have a really good relationship with him. He knows what’s important about the concepts we bring him and how to bring them to life. We definitely want the artwork to be cohesive across all our records, but I also think themes of change and transformation are as inherent to his artwork as it is to our music so it’s just a good fit.

What music most influenced Body Void?

Khanate, Indian, Primitive Man, Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

What bands are you into that are as heavy as hell?

Right now I’m listening to new stuff by Oryx, Altarage, Pupil Slicer, Socioclast, and Knoll.

What makes you laugh in these trying times?

Friends, mostly.

Speaking of friends, you’ve been writing and recording with Jacob from Keeper on a project called Hellish Form. How similar or different is it to Body Void?

It’s definitely still slow and heavy, but it’s meant to be a lot more dynamic tonally. Hellish Form’s new album coming out in June is more different from Body Void than our demo from last year was. There’s a lot more major key tonality, which in itself is pretty antithetical to Body Void. We also wanted synthesizers and guitar leads to take a more prominent role as well.

Hellish Form drops 'Remains’ on June 24th. What does this release mean to you?

It’s a special album. It’s fun to be able to explore different emotions than with Body Void. It’s very sad, but also uplifting at times. It was very cathartic to write and record. It’s very much about the pandemic and the unbelievable sense of loss its cast over everything. It’s funeral doom in a real sense.

How was Body Void’s experience with Roadburn Redux?

Great! We were very happy to be involved after the festival was cancelled in 2020. Hopefully we’ll still be able to play Roadburn proper someday.

If conditions improve, will be you taking Body Void on the road?

Absolutely.

Hell yeah. Thanks for writing and playing some of the slimiest sludge out there!

I remember my first thoughts when WOLF KING’s Loyal To The Soil first caught my ear.   I muttered audibly, “This is terrifying.”   The Bay Area blackened hardcore rumblers really blasted out of the gates with their full length debut on Prosthetic Records.   From “Hail The Ash” on it was a certified barnstormer – just the sonic beating I needed to get me up, angry, and motivated at time in my life when I was feeling rather stuck.   I assure you, it didn’t take long for me to get things in order.

Today, Doomed & Stoned is pleased to give you a closer look into what is clearly one of the highlights of Wolf King’s sound: the vocals.   Alternately described as “grim” and “chaotic,” they are the property of frontman Tim Wilson, with backup from axeman Jake Broughton.   Coupled with the possessed rhythm section of drummer Connor White and bassist Brian Mojica, Wolf King truly is one of the most exciting young acts in the contemporary hardcore scene.

“Betrayer,” the band tells me, “was written about the fake people that come into our lives, linger in our midst, and ridding them from our lives the best we can.   Vocal techniques that we use are pretty basic. Tim uses his diaphragm and breathing to get through most of the song, while Jake uses his ancient demon ancestor technique.”

Wolf King are unleashing the vocal play-through for “Betrayer” just before taking to the road during some of the hottest days of summer in some of the rowdiest cities in the West (tour dates and details below).   Don’t miss what will clearly be a cathartic live metal experience! In the meanwhile, you can get ahold of the new album here.

Give ear…

Some Buzz:

A feral, crusted punk undercurrent flows throughout the eleven tracks – violent and ripping with a foreboding atmosphere that hangs over their punishing riffing. A heavyweight debut for appreciators of the crusted heaviness of Trap Them and venomous hardcore.

The group released the 2016 EP, Into The Infinite, which contained 5 tracks of grim, chaotic, hardcore. Now, with Loyal to the Soil, their debut full length, Wolf King is poised to sow their own brand of chaos across the nation. Loyal to the Soil is set to be released on April 27th and will be available on all digital outlets, compact disc and a limited edition LP on black and gold & white splatter wax. The album was recorded at Rapture Recordings in Hayward, California with Cody Fuentes (Spite). It was a smooth process due to Cody’s hardworking and easygoing nature. Wolf King and Rapture Recordings were a natural fit, with Fuentes’ signature brutal sound meshing with Wolf King’s dark aura to create a new breed of apocalyptic sound.

The road is where they are most home though, having toured throughout the US with Enfold Darkness, Outlier, Seeker, Empyrean Throne and many others as well as shared the stage with Archspire, Cattle Decapitation and Whitechapel.

Wolf King on Tour

• 7/19 Sacramento, CA - Holy Diver
• 7/20 Concord, CA - Red Hat
• 7/21 Reno, NV - Cargo Concert Hall
• 7/22 Seattle, WA - Club SUR
• 7/24 Pocatello, ID - The Elks Lodge
• 7/26 Denver, CO - Trailside Saloon
• 7/27 Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad
• 7/28 Tempe, AZ - 51 West
• 7/29 Fullerton, CA - The Slidebar
• 8/5 Cupertino, CA @ The X Bar w/ Pathology & Within Destruction
• 08/18 Anaheim, CA - Chain Reaction - East Meets West Music Fest

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

It’s been over a year since I last talked to ZIRAKZIGIL, when the band busted out ‘Worldbuilder’ (2015 - Prosthetic Records), which was Doomed & Stoned’s Album of the Year.   The Portland-born progressive doom trio now finds itself in the mountains of Northern California at the family compound.   Connor and Seamus are brothers, Charlie their cousin, so it’s homecoming.   The band’s digs at the moment are run entirely on solar power.   “We pretty much have to do everything during the day,” they tell me, “and prioritize our fun after dark.”

Zirakzigil hauled all their gear up the dusty roads, where they’re perfecting a half-dozen new songs for a third album (earmarked for recording this spring and release in the fall).   “We might have to bust out the generator for this one,” Connor confides.   It’s a complete DIY effort.   “After the last couple recording sessions with Fester and Billy Anderson, we’ve learned a trick or two.”

The new album is inspired by a poem that Connor wrote called, “Run For The Hunt.”   The band was psyched.   “We got intrigued by the life of wolves and decided to re-read 'White Fang’ by Jack London.   From there, things unfolded in a very natural way,” explains Charles.   “Ending up here in the mountains and snow is the best place for us to make an album about an epic wolf journey.”

The quiet Seamus chimes in, “I really like to play in odd time signatures, the crazier the better.   In this new album we have a lot of polyrhythms.   We’re really pushing the boundaries.   This is going to be one of the best things we’ve ever put out. We’re very excited.”

To tide us over while we wait for the new material, Zirakzigil have filmed something special from Worldbuilder, set in their woodland home.   In this epic nine-minute video, the band reveals: “A young girl is sent on a spiritual quest and must battle an Evil Witch, before attaining mind altering bliss!” Not surprisingly, the boys got the whole family involved. “My sister plays the witch, my niece the little girl, and my cousin is the priestess.   Our cousin Cooper did the camera work. We just all wanted to get together an do something cool.”   By God, they’re a veritable cottage industry.

Here it is, Doomed & Stoned’s premiere of the music video “Terra Pericolosa” by Zirakzigil!

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