Hard rock band White Void’s debut record Anti (Nuclear Blast) was one of last year’s most colorful and surprising releases. But vocalist and band frontman Lars Are Nedland – also a long-time member of Borknagar and Solefald – clearly needed a contrast to all the color and flamboyance, and thus Black Void forced itself into being.
Not a band for waiting, the debut album, Antithesis, was recorded almost immediately and is out now via Nuclear Blast. Also, a video for the new single, "Void", can be found below.
Black Void is a punk laden, black metal infused band spearheaded by Lars Are Nedland, and completed by drummer Tobias Solbakk (Ihsahn, White Void, In Vain) and guitarist Jostein Thomassen (Borknagar, Profane Burial).
In many ways Black Void is the flipside of White Void: A full-on rejection of the philosophy of Albert Camus and an endorsement of Friedrich Nietzsche, a full-on rejection of a soft, melodic approach to music and a full-on rejection of a playful, tongue-in-cheek attitude. With that as a backdrop, Antithesis becomes an album that pays respect to fifty years of punk and forty years of black metal – a musical equivalent of a punk with a Mohawk fighting a dude in corpse paint.
Add to that guest vocal appearances by black metal royalties Sakis Tolis of Rotting Christ and Hoest of Taake, Antithesis appears as a statement of sorts: A nihilistic musical outburst flipping off morality and hailing aggression while at the same time forcing your foot to tap to its relentless drive.
Antithesis was written and recorded between 2019 and 2021 and mixed and mastered by Øystein G. Brun at Crosound Studio. Drums were engineered and recorded by Tobias Øymo Solbakk at Splinter Studios, while bass, vocals and keys were engineered and recorded by Lars Are Nedland at Mezzanine Studios. Guitars were engineered and recorded by Jostein Thomassen at Riff Sheriff Studio and keys are played by Lars Are Nedland.
Order Antithesis in the format of your choice here.
Antithesis tracklisting:
"Void"
"Reject Everything"
"Death To Morality"
"Tenebrism Of Life"
"No Right, No Wrong"
"It's Not Surgery, It's A Knife Fight"
"Explode Into Nothingness"
"Nihil"
"Dadaist Disgust"
"Void" video:
"Dadaist Disgust" video:
"Reject Everything" video:
Lineup:
Jostein Thomassen - Guitars
Tobias Øymo Solbakk - Drums
Lars Are Nedland – Vocals and bass
