AN NCS INTERVIEW: VOID MOON

(In June of this year Personal Records released a new album by the Swedish doom metal band Void Moon. Our Comrade Aleks became a fan of it, and that led to the following discussion between him and Void Moon‘s Peter Svensson. As you’ll see, it’s a very good conversation and goes off in lots of interestng directions.)

Peter Svensson (bass, guitar) is involved in about 15 projects and bands, playing both heavy and death metal. Not all of these formations are active, but it is worth keeping in mind the number. In a good half of these bands, he is accompanied by Marcus Rosenqvist (vocals, drums).

It is almost funny, but Marcus has been drumming in Void Moon since 2014, yet his talent as a vocalist was fully discovered only by the third album, The Autumn Throne (2020), so Dreams Inside the Sun is his second full-length as a frontman.

This time, the duo have prepared nine tracks, and I got the impression that this material is lighter and more melodic than what we heard on the previous work. And this is not just a guess: Peter officially stated that he does not want to repeat himself, and promised that the new album will be different, more powerful, and more positive.

Formally operating with the standard techniques of traditional doom metal, relying on dense riffs and a low tuning, Void Moon, without breaking the laws of the genre, take from it what positives they can, and equip Dreams Inside the Sun with a truly positive charge. They are not pioneers, because such bands existed before, but there are not many of them. I invite you to check out this interview with Peter.

 

 

Hi Peter! How are you? What are you working on now?

Hi! I am fine, thanks, busy as ever, haha! Right now, I have just finished my own solo EP, which should be out soon. I am also writing some new material for Amaurot, as well as working on the pre-production of the upcoming debut album of Bardo Thodol. And then I am writing lyrics for the ninth Furnace concept album, haha.

 

How soon may we expect Bardo Thodol? I was sure that it’s something already carved in stone.

We are working on 13 tracks, of which 10 will reach the final album. Drums and most of the guitars are recorded. We will start recording vocals in September and hopefully we can shop around for a record deal shortly after that. We hope to have the album out sometime next year.

Working with Scott and Ginevra is real fun and they add so much to the songs.

 

Among all the bands you’re involved in, Void Moon remains one of oldest and most stable. Its fourth album Dreams Inside the Sun was released on June the 7th, and accept my congratulations. Did you have time to reflect on this release or did you just switch on to another band and record as soon as this album was out?

Void Moon is very special to me. It is my main band, even if other bands get more attention from other people. I played in bands for 15 years before starting Void Moon, but it was there that I really felt I was doing something that’s really me. We delivered the album to the label in February and when we got the physical albums in June. I gave it a few spins; it is always a different experience after getting some distance from the recording.

I am very proud of the album and it really turned out more or less exactly like I hoped. We wanted to write a different album to The Autumn Throne and this time focus on more power and positivity (as positive as I can be, hehe). My life has changed quite a lot since I was writing (and recording) The Autumn Throne and I thought it would be nice if the music reflected this. Focusing on sun themes (for some songs) was also a nice change from the moon themes of previous releases.

I have no interest in copying a previous album, or another band, so there is continuous progress throughout our releases. As you can imagine, I have already started collecting ideas for our next one (out in another four years).

 

 

But don’t you fear losing Void Moon’s identity by recording different albums each time?

Not really, I have a specific idea or feeling that I want Void Moon to represent. I can’t really put it into words but I know exactly if something fits Void Moon or not. And with that mindset I think that everything we create under the Void Moon name will still have our identity. We are not going to record a power metal or black metal album.

 

Void Moon’s previous release is the epic EP Waste of Mind, which was recorded in collaboration with three guest musicians. Did you record it for the sake of collaboration in itself?

The reason for the collaboration is quite simple: We wanted guitar solos on the song and I am no fancy guitar player. Having two of the best guitarists I know on the release of course just makes the recording even better. All three guitarists got different sections throughout the song depending on their styles. Martin Jepsen Andersen and Kjetil Lynghaug are also providing the guitar solos on Dreams Inside the Sun.

 

Is it just your modesty or was it really much more difficult to figure out how to perform these solos?

No, I’m not modest here. I could of course record “something” in those passages, but to do something even remotely similar to Kjetil or Martin is far out of my reach. I am very glad to have them onboard since the songs get much better.

 

 

The artwork of Dreams Inside the Sun is quiet universal; it doesn’t have that doomy vibe we’re used to. Why did you choose the artwork like this?

Very early we decided to have a sun-themed album. And I wanted something emanating power. The artwork was created by a former co-worker of mine and it turned out perfect. The floating islands were her idea and I asked for nine islands representing the nine tracks on the album.

 

These new songs reach the quality level of many classic doom albums and, honestly, surpass some of these classics. How do you value the Dreams Inside the Sun material?

I am very happy and proud to hear that! To be honest, while writing the album I was feeling that the songs were good but maybe not as good as the songs on The Autumn Throne. Yet I felt it was important to create something different, with a different feel.

In hindsight, I would say that the songs turned out great and the different songs turned into different pieces of the finished album puzzle. With Void Moon, we really want to write an entire album and not just nine songs; very early in the process the album order is set and sometimes a song is written just to fit the overall album idea.

 

How do you see the strongest sides of the new songs yourself, as their author?

I really like the power and the upbeat feel of “Rays of Vindication”; we set out to have a powerful opener and we achieved that. Sometimes you have a specific idea but the end result doesn’t really match that, but with “Rays” it turned out pretty much exactly as good as I hoped it would be.

One song that I really am glad about is “Still Dark”. It got its final shape very late in the recording session. The lyrics are almost 20 years old and were inspired by my late grandfather. These delicate song melodies are where Marcus really excels!

 

 

One of main features of this material and Void Moon in general is a kind of noble, almost epic sound that reminded me a bit Mirror of Deception, and that reminded me of Jochen Fopp and the Doom Shall Rise festival which he organized together with Frank Hellweg… So the question really is… do you have an opportunity to play live with Void Moon now?

I take it as a very nice compliment being compared with the excellent MoD! We have not been able to play live for a long time (nine years ago we played our latest show). But we are actually putting together a live line-up as we speak and hopefully we can get out and play some shows in 2025! Any promoters are more than welcome to get in contact with us!

 

Does it disappoint you when you know that here and now the chances of even such a great album to reach a wider range of listeners are low because of the industry’s crisis, because of the genre’s very niche popularity, because all top places are occupied by veterans or bands with bigger labels behind them?

Playing in bands for 30 years, I am used to being disappointed, haha. But to answer your question, I would say yes. I think if we had had the proper support, and hype, behind the last album we would probably be in a much better position right now and a lot more people would hear our albums. I have always said that there is a segment of the scene that are Void Moon fans, most of them just don’t know it yet.

 

Originally Marcus was the drummer, but he has been singing since the previous full-length, The Autumn Throne, and he sings absolutely fantastic! How was his talent as a  vocalist revealed?

When Marcus started playing with us, he also provided some backing/co-lead vocals when we played live. I always knew he had a good voice, and when Jonas left, the most logical conclusion was to have Marcus singing. It is one of the things that really turned out better than I could have ever hoped! Marcus’s voice is perfect for doom.

 

You and Marcus have played together in seven (?) more bands, so how do you separate your efforts between all of them? Are you going to reach the level of Rogga Johansson’s activity?

It is very much down to the idea behind the different bands. Some things fit Void Moon and some things fit Heir Corpse One, for example. We usually have a pretty good idea of where we want to go with the different bands. But of course, comparing Void Moon and Anchorite (with which we will record a new album this autumn), some song ideas are interchangeable.

And no, I am not going for any Rogga world record in bands, right now. I have reached my limit and some projects will just have one more release and then I will focus on the other bands.

 

 

Anchorite? Oh, cool! Do you still work with Leo Stivala? There was no news from Forsaken for ages.

Yes, we started writing for the new album just when the first one was released. For the new album, Martin Jepsen Andersen (guitar) has written most of the music and I wrote most of the lyrics. So this time around it is really a band effort, and the material is really strong. Everything but the vocals and guitar solos is recorded already.

I think Forsaken have been playing live a few times the last couple of years, but I haven’t heard if they are working on new material.

 

By the way, any news from Gauntlet Rule’s side?

Actually, yes! We have just finished the new Gauntlet Rule album and the master will be delivered to our new label this week (more info on that soon). The new album is even better than the first, but it was a lot of work.

 

What are your further plans for the rest of 2024 with Void Moon or other bands?

We will put some effort into getting Void Moon ready to play live. Regarding recordings, I will release my solo EP (death/doom), record the new Anchorite album, record the Bardo Thodol album, mix the coming Furnace album (that will be released next year, not the one coming out in August…), and then promote the new Gauntlet Rule as well!

 

Thanks for the interview, Peter! I think it turned out to be a good one — do you have any final words for our readers?

Thank you very much for this well-researched and interesting interview!

I hope that anybody curious to find a new band to listen to would give Void Moon a try, especially the last two albums. I believe that the music appeals to more than just doom metal fans.

http://www.facebook.com/VoidMoonMetal

https://www.void-moon.com/index_VM.html

https://personal-records.bandcamp.com/album/dreams-inside-the-sun

https://void-moon.bandcamp.com/music