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1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
Voidmaker is basically a vehicle that combines blackened death/thrash and huge, cosmic themes into a neat little package. We think that it has the gnarly riffs, sweet solos, brutal vocals, and cool lyrical content to be accessible and engaging for most metal fans.
2.So far you have released a full length, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?
We knew we wanted some of it to be very fast and thrashy - that would be a song like "Terminus" or "Terraforming the Red Planet." Other pieces we wanted to lurk a bit more and have an atmosphere that builds, like "Ganymede, the Outpost." Overall, we wanted it all to be cohesive, and for the sum of the parts to make something amazing. The music itself borrows from so many influences: you have power chordy thrash riffs, trem-picked super-fast death metal stuff, and those quickly strummed minor chords that you find a lot in black metal. In short, there's some variety, but we like to think that it all comes together.
3.Both of the band members are also veterans, what is it that you bring into the music of 'Voidmaker', that you have not been able to do with your other groups?
Probably the biggest thing is the theming. We've never done projects before that were so focused. I (Joe) did an instrumental Egyptian-themed solo album a few years back, but it's not quite the same if there aren't lyrics. With Voidmaker, we were really able to dig into the sci-fi themes and create a whole connected universe with our songs.
4.A lot of your lyrics cover science fiction themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?
I (Joe) am always reading some sci-fi book, watching a series or movie, or even playing a sci-fi themed video game. I've been a sci-fi fan for basically my whole life, so being able to create an album that is an homage to all the great media I've seen over the years has been a lot of fun and very satisfying. There's inspiration in "A Cold, Unyielding Universe" from authors like Alistair Reynolds, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Adrian Tchaikovsky, shows like "Foundation", "The Expanse", even games like "The Outer Worlds" series. Overall, doing an album like this has been something I've wanted to do for a while, and having Voidmaker bring all that inspiration to life has been a blast.
5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Voidmaker'?
Probably all the above sci-fi inspiration, plus, we thought it just sounds really cool and conjures up some cool visuals. Some eldritch universal being making voids everywhere? Pretty rad.
6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
This is an Adam Burke (Nightjar Illustration) custom piece. He is an amazing artist, and for this kind of stuff (sci-fi/fantasy) I would almost call him an "industry standard", except for the fact that I think he elevates art so much that it's anything but "standard". He painted this by hand, and shows us this amazing scene of a hulking space station, complete with ethereal glow, with a backdrop of fantastic nebulae/stars/nearby planets. The palette choices are amazing, the execution is flawless, just such a cool piece and something we were very lucky to have made for us.
7.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding the line up or do you prefer to remain a duo?
There are no real plans to expand the band at this time - we're lucky to have been able to make this album as a duo, and I think it gave us a lot of creative freedom, but then again, who knows what the future will bring?
8.The physical version of the album is going to be released by 'Witches Brew', how did you get in contact with this label?
We worked with an amazing firm based in the UK, Imperative PR, for our label search. They were able to get us into contact with Cheryl at "Witches Brew", and it's the perfect fit for us. Cheryl has been such a pleasure to work with, she's super responsive and supportive, and we're lucky that the label search went so well.
9.On a worldwide level, how has the reaction been to your music by fans of extreme metal?
In terms of streaming locations, we've got listeners in quite a few countries! The bulk are based in North America and Europe, but some countries in South America and Southeast Asia are doing well too. I think a lot of this too was the result of working with a few different companies for album PR, in concert with the publicity from Witches Brew.
10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
I think Voidmaker 2, whenever that comes out, will probably still deal thematically with sci-fi, and our overall sound will be similar, but we want to keep things fresh and interesting, so we'll push ourselves musically to make that happen.
11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
There are so many! Vektor, Revocation, Vorga, Mare Cognitum, Inferi, Impureza, Allegaeon, Carnosus, Gorod, and it goes on. I've been listening to a lot of atmospheric/meloblack and hardcore lately; I like to keep things fresh in terms of finding new bands to listen to.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
We put a lot of time into "A Cold, Unyielding Universe"; it's been a passion project and something that we're really proud of. We think there's something cool in there for all metal fans, so if you haven't already checked it out, find us on Spotify/Bandcamp/Apple Music, or visit us at voidmakerband.com!
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