Ryan Wilson recently released „The Darkness At The Edge Of Dawn“, another album of his funeral doom solo project THE HOWLING VOID, which is quite an atmospheric, but also a bit low key release. The following interview gives you some details about his reasons for keeping from using growls, why the album’s title track has a blues part in it and under which circumstances the music of THE HOWLIG VOID could also work out live.
THE HOWLING VOID is your solo project with which you play funeral doom. What exactly excites you about this particular type of music compared to others?
The slowness. The music itself takes on a similar quality to life itself, which is a slow, dark, painful journey into nothingness.
Contrary to most of the genre’s bands you don’t make use of growled or screamed vocals. What’s the reason for this?
I growled on the first several albums, but I decided to change the vocal style for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to add another layer of atmosphere to the music, and I felt that using the voice as another tuned instrument would help me accomplish this. Secondly, I actually developed a bit of a phobia concerning tearing my vocal chords and otherwise wounding my throat. It is irrational, but that is the nature of a phobia I suppose.
Which musicians serve as main inspiration for your own music?
For this project, my main influences are early Emperor albums, Shape Of Despair, Thergothon, Sunn, and Arvo Part.
Even though THE HOWLING VOID was founded in 2007 you already released six albums – despite all your other projects. Do you even have time for anything else apart from music?
Not really. I spend almost all of my free time on music. I am a recluse by nature, and don’t enjoy leaving the house or going out amongst crowds or any of that. So I suppose it is natural that I tend to stay cloistered in my home, working constantly on self-expression through music.
Do you think that there’s a risk of oversaturating your listeners with that much new material in that rather short time span?
I haven’t really thought about it. I don’t really pay attention to the „marketing“ side of music; I just constantly make new music and release it in the hopes that other people might find something meaningful in it. But it is primarily an instrument of therapy for me.
A lack of musical outlets doesn’t seem like one of your problems. Why is it still important for you to create THE HOWLING VOID and move on with it instead of using the material for your other projects?
THE HOWLING VOID represents a big part of myself; it is like a reflection of a big part of my personality. I can’t really escape it, I guess.
Which part of being a solo musician is the most difficult for you?
I enjoy it, for the most part. The difficult part is when I get stuck in my own patterns and my own clichés. Sometimes it helps to have somebody else contribute for a fresh perspective.
Your albums used to be around an hour long, while your last two have been significantly shorter. Is there a certain reason for this?
The style has changed a little, and as a result, I just feel more comfortable cutting the songs off a bit sooner than I used to.
Your latest album is called „The Darkness At The Edge Of Dawn“. Contrary to its title, the lyrics are rather stripped down. Are they of great importance to you nevertheless or would you also consider doing a completely instrumental record?
The lyrics are important to a degree, but it is the sound of the voice that comes first. I think of the vocals as an instrument to be heard. The lyrics are a secondary thought. There is still a lot of meaning in the lyrics, but I keep them short because I’m trying to express things that can’t really be articulated well through words.
I’d say that your lyrics are quite melancholic and linked to nature. What are they mainly about?
They are mainly about being isolated, alienated, and stuck in an endless loop of misery and futility. So yes, quite melancholic. I use natural images as metaphors to convey these feelings.
Is there a song on the album that would consider your favorite? If so, which one and why?
I’m not sure. Perhaps it would be the title track; I enjoy many different parts of that song, and I usually don’t really enjoy my own music all that much.
I think I even heard a blues-like part in the title track. Is this on purpose? And do you also draw influences from blues?
Yes, absolutely. I really enjoy very old recordings of blues; the combination of the music’s natural melancholy and the sense of antiquity really appeals to me. For some strange reason, I am attracted to all things that are very old and half-forgotten, buried by time.
THE HOWLING VOID is and stays a solely studio-based project, right? Do you think your music would also work out live in the right setting or is it simply not worthwhile to you, even if you had fitting session-musicians?
I would like to play these songs live someday, but the right opportunity has never presented itself. The only thing is that I would want to play in a very specific type of venue: a church, a cave, a large auditorium. I don’t want to play these songs in a sweaty, crowded, rundown club somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I just don’t think the atmosphere will work.
A while back, you announced that you’ll do a split with the French black metal band Nyss. How did it come to this and what do you expect from this collaboration?
I am a big fan of Nyss, so I was very happy to be contacted by Thorir. He asked if I’d be interested in doing a split, and I immediately agreed. I’m not usually interested in doing splits with this particular project, but Nyss has a very unique sound that I think will blend nicely with THE HOWLING VOID on a split record. I am excited about it.
Do you also have some plans for your next full-length-release already or do you focus on the split with Nyss for now?
I have recently finished my contribution to the Nyss split. It is a single, thirteen minute long track that, while still staying in my current style, also harkens back a little bit to my funeral roots. I have begun thinking about another full length, but I haven’t decided anything yet. Part of me wants to return to my older, strictly funeral doom, sound. But I just don’t know. Writing a new album for this project is always very stressful and I’m not excited about jumping back into it so soon.
We have this small tradition at Metal1.info that we always end our interviews with a short brainstorming. What comes to your mind while reading the following terms?
Summoning: I love them.
Blast beats: I also love these.
Weapon law in the US: The more weapons, the better.
City – countryside: Countryside for sure.
Europe: A place that I’ve always wanted to visit. Hopefully someday.
Spirituality: Unique to each individual.
Thank you once more for your answers. I’ll leave the final words to you:
Thank you for the opportunity to do this interview. I am grateful, and I hope that everyone who reads this is doing well.
11. April 2018 Stephan Rajchl