(Today we present Comrade Aleks‘ interview with bassist Mat from the German doom band Spiritual Void, whose latest album Wayfare saw release last summer.)
As we interviewed Iron Void, why don’t we do the same for Spiritual Void?
This doom metal trio is located somewhere in the Lake Constance area, at the northern foot of the Alps in Germany. That explains why the band prefers themes related to Nature in the artworks and lyrics of their albums White Mountain (2017) and Wayfare (2023). Spiritual Void’s members weren’t involved in any other bands before, so for Mat (bass), Schlunsky (drums), and Rob (guitars, vocals), Wayfare was only the second album in an entire career, so to speak.
And yet this material is remarkably solid, loud, and mournful, as any traditional doom metal album should be. Now come and taste it, while reading this interview with Mat.
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Hi Mat! How are you doing? Spiritual Void’s second album Wayfare was released in July, and I see that you get quite positive feedback. What do people usually find attractive in these songs?
Hi Aleks! Thanks for asking. I would say: a good Doomer feels always a little bad.
What we often hear is that people really appreciate our music, that it is very traditional, pure doom without influences from other genres. But the most important thing is probably that our music is very personal and authentic and comes from deep within us without following any trends or trying to please.
With our music and the stories we tell in it, we would like to invite listeners to enter a part of our inner world and perhaps find themselves there. Because isn’t it the case that every form of art that deals with loneliness and suffering is about creating connections? And we try to do that in our perhaps somewhat awkward and cryptic way.
For me, the main thing about music is that it touches me and has something to say to me. And I think we do this. At least for those who are open to traveling with us into our cosmos.
The band celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2023, and it looks like you do not hurry, and record your stuff whenever you have free time. Don’t you feel an ardor to record more albums, to play more gigs, to conquer the scene?
We’re pretty excited to write new songs. The pandemic and the fact that the release of our album was delayed as a result really threw a wrench in our plans. In addition, our old rehearsal room was flooded and we had to look for a new one. All of this slowed us down quite a bit.
When it comes to gigs, we’re more like hermit druids than conquerors. We prefer to play selected shows in an environment and in front of people who suit to us and understand our music. We just don’t want to bend, compromise or apply for anything. So far it has worked out very well to our satisfaction. We just feel very comfortable in the underground and wouldn’t want it any other way. Although we wouldn’t be averse to larger offers, provided it suits to us and doesn’t cause too much stress.
The times of the German festival Doom Shall Rise are long gone, Doom Metal Front is over too. How would you characterize the local doom scene and its surroundings?
I would describe the scene as stable. I would actually say that it has become a bit bigger, or at least the openness and interest in Doom has increased. But I’m also better connected now and doing my part to spread the word of doom, so it can only seem that way to me. In any case, I don’t feel like the scene has shrunk. Doom was always a small, special genre and with a small scene and it will probably stay that way, and that’s how I like it.
However, a festival like Doom Shall Rise is really missing here. We still have the Hammer of Doom festival, which you really can’t complain about, but as a good friend of mine said: The Hammer of Doom is simply a metal festival with doom bands and not a doom festival. I just miss some of the whimsical character of the smaller festivals there. But who knows, maybe something like that will happen again. I would wish.
You released Wayfare digitally, as Journey’s End Records did the vinyl edition. Was it hard to find the label? And will you search to release the album on CD as well?
Not at all. Journey’s End was my first choice, and fortunately Martin agreed to release our album. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank him once again for his trust and for responding so kindly to my particular ideas.
We once talked about releasing a CD. Unfortunately, I cannot say how far things have progressed.
Which bands formed your vision of doom metal when you were founding Spiritual Void? What kind of doom merits did you search to fulfil in your own band?
At the time of our founding I would say our most influential spiritual fathers were Saint Vitus, Warning, Reverend Bizarre, Lord Vicar, Dawn of Winter, Candlemass, and Black Sabbath of course.
And the only thing we wanted to fulfill was to make Doom the way we understand it: heavy, slow, atmospheric, epic, and emotional.
Spiritual Void’s first album White Mountain was released six years ago, and Wayfare reminds of it a lot, both in structure, general patterns, and concept as far as I can judge. How do you see your progress in Wayfare? Do you feel that you surpassed White Mountain?
The similarity to the first album probably comes from the fact that a lot of the new album also comes from this creative phase. Before the first album was released we were already working on new material. That’s why, for me, Wayfare feels more like an extension of the first album than a new chapter, which is why I would speak more of a continuation than a process. We have only refined what worked well on the first one.
We’ll see where the journey will take us. We already have ideas for new elements that we want to try out and incorporate. But don’t worry, we certainly won’t leave the path of traditional Doom.
How long did you work over the new material? What was most difficult for you this time?
As I said, we already started with the songwriting in the production and release phase of the first album. So it took us about three and a half years to write the new record. Songwriting always goes quite smoothly for us. We don’t put pressure on ourselves and we are always very open to each other’s suggestions and ideas. If we do disagree, we maintain a good and respectful culture of discussion.
We recorded the songs in spring 2020 while everything was shut down and that was the hardest part of all. Suddenly everything was different and everyone, understandably, had other things to worry about than taking care of the record. It took a lot of strength for me to carry the project over this time. When the situation improved again, the record also moved forward. From there, along with the creation of the design and cover to the final publication, the work on it took almost six and a half years.
There’s the song “Dying on a White Mountain” in your first album, and one of your new tracks is titled “Beyond the White Mountain”. What kind of concept did you put in these songs? That reminds me a bit of Lake of Tears’ duology “Upon the Highest Mountain”, but with emphasis on more realistic, existential themes.
This is all based on a loose concept that just evolved. It started with the song “Druid” on our demo, which describes how he sits in the woods and brews his potions. When we wrote “Dying on a White Mountain”, we thought that it could be the Druid who climbs it and meets his end there. But somehow he made it and his journey continues. We don’t know what he’s looking for, what motivates him to move on, what his destination is, or where his journey will take him.
For me personally, the Druid is a metaphor for enduring and facing one’s fate with dignity, not giving up, not losing hope. and carrying on no matter what indomitable mountains, deep valleys, and impassable swamps stand in your way in the search for your salvation.
We are excited to see where his journey will take him and what he would like to tell and show us. At least we already have an idea how his journey could continue…
What are your key influences as a lyricist? Do you draw inspiration from non-music sources? For example, this time you cite Nerthus, the goddess of a Germanic pagan pantheon. Is it a tribute to the genre or something more?
Rob is actually solely responsible for the lyrics. Sometimes he already has written lyrics that fit well with a song or we talk about a topic that we would like to work on and then he puts it into his own words.
As I said, our music is very personal and emotional. That’s why we draw a lot of inspiration from what’s going on inside us and what we’re thinking about, what moves us or what we observe. This is then encrypted in a way that everyone can make up their own minds about it.
As for Nerthus, here she serves more as a metaphor for what she stands for than about herself.
Although we already have a weakness for pagan mythology. Especially Rob. I’m more of a theologian and philosopher. What definitely unites us is a strong connection to nature, which is also reflected in our songs.
What are your plans for the rest of 2023?
At the moment we only have one gig left with Ahab and our friends from The Aeons Torn in November. After that we’ll end the year comfortably and will finally get back to writing new songs in the new year.