Review by Sonny for Howling Void, The - Into Darkness Ever More Profound (2023)

The Howling Void is a funeral doom metal solo project and is the brainchild of Ryan Wilson, who is a member of many other projects, including the underrated funeral doom duo, Excantation, veteran grindcore band Intestinal Disgorge and black metallers Endless Disease, to name just a few. I have been somewhat of a fan since 2013's Nightfall album but whilst the four albums prior to this are solid slabs of mournfulness, I have never exactly considered The Howling Void to be an upper echelon funeral doom outfit. This isn't about to change any of that, but it is possibly my favourite release of his to date, although I have still to check out his more highly rated first three albums.

The four tracks crawl along at a snail's pace, but don't possess the crushing heaviness of an Esoteric, rather their mournfulness is expressed in a more wistful and reflective way than the often desperate-sounding and world-shaking grief of the genre's premier exponents. This is not a criticism, per se, there is definitely room in the funeral doom world for lighter and less crushing version and it gives a different perspective on the style that may appeal to those put off by the unremitting weight that they may otherwise be confronted with. I have said it before and it bears saying again, I feel there is a correlation between this lighter form of funeral doom and atmospheric black metal where both use very different means to achieve a similar airiness of atmosphere. Third track, Deeper, Darker Waters, even employs a tremolo picking technique reminiscent of atmo-black at various points, whilst retaining the plodding funereal drumbeats.

There is liberal use of keyboards, yet thankfully without overdoing it and straying into symphonic metal territory and theguitar work possesses a reasonably melodic quality. The vocals are servicable, although I prefer them a bit deeper and gruffer myself, but they feel a little buried in the mix at times and I find I really have to concentrate for them to register sufficiently. So, essentially a good album with some nice atmospheric touches that doesn't, for me, quite deliver the soul-crushing weight I love from my funeral doom, but is still nonetheless a reasonably satisfying listen and represents a different side of the genre that certainly has it's place.