‘’I always wanted to start a doom metal band to sing in, Jason Köhnen) understood the hint when we were working on the MANSUR project, and when we started to talk about which music we liked it turned out we were both doom metal. He is more fan of oldschool doom, but I also like many bands of the modern doom metal era. Then one day he surprised me with a doom metal version of a MANSUR song and it turned out beautifully, so we decided to do a new doom project together in december 2020 managing to write the whole forlorn album in 3 months.
Martina Horváth provides the voice and consciousness of The Answer Lies in The Black Void. a doom project that is as beautiful as it is dark and powerful. The sonic soundscapes are atmospheric yet raw, expressive and undefinable as they explore all the realms of heaviness. ‘’Thou Shalt’ is their incredible new release, an outlet of thoughts and emotions.
‘’Oh yeah, this is the way how i can express myself and preserve my sanity, its like my daily journal where I lay out my thoughts, the things I’ve learnt and conclusions I come to, these thoughts are in the melodies when i record them.
Is ‘’Thou Shalt” a statement moving forward or a command to respect the past?
‘’Its both… because the past needs to be processed in order to be able to move forward. Even if its a cliche…you need to embrace the past version of yourself, the mistakes you have made, in order to see who you will or have become.
'’We communicated that the album was inspired by Jung ‘shadow work’, but its actually also refering to the work people do when they reach a certain point in their life and they want to become a better person, this is what Jung calls shadow work, embracing your dark (shadow) side. It is also very universal because everyone is going through the same struggle on the inside to be a better person and to understand the ‘self’.
‘’The building crescendo that is the title track and its juxtaposition between the beautiful and its extremity?
It shows the beauty in oneself, but also the surpressed feelings that want to come to the surface, by supressing too much it will destroy you, so it needs to be freed and my voice is the tool of letting go of this surpression. As for the juxtaposition of extremities, this is who we are and what we do, it goes natural.
What does it mean to ‘’Kill the Father”?
‘’Its a metaphor for having the courage to find your true self and to let go of all the principles and rules which you are conditioned to follow by your parents, your government, society… when you are able to ‘kill the father’, it means that your interpretation of the world around you becomes much clearer and you will be able to create a blank page to continue your journey.
Life is short and ultimately fragile. How do you extract every precious moment of it?
‘’You need to live in the present. Not meaning that you are not dealing with your past, this is a very helpful tool i learnt from stoicism, that I have the choice to how I react to the things that happen to me, so I am not apathic, I live in the present and try to grasp the moment and understand what is happening around me.
How do you describe darkness?
‘’One cant exist without the other, everything exists in duality, so for me darkness is not evil, for me darkness is not my enemy. darknes does not equal to evil for me.
Does your music attempt resolve the inner struggle/confronting of demons?
‘’For me definitely, this album is therapeutic, and i hope it will help to comfort and confront others.
The classical intonations and subtlety within your work. How are you able to create and merge with the heavier passages?
‘’Like with other juxtapositions, the way we compose and create the music comes natural, its based on those principles of duality, dark and light, light and heavy. So, as you notice the concept of our album is found in different parts of the whole.
And your ethereal yet haunting vocals?
‘’This like all the other juxtapositions comes back to the concept of duality. light / dark, love/hate, ethereal/haunting… its the shadow work… the balance between the extremes.
What drew you to extreme music and why it is so vital to you?
‘’The Scorpions… Honestly ? When i was around 4-5 yrs old, my father brought home a tape of the Scorpions ‘Face the Heat’, I couldnt speak properly yet, and I was singing along in child gibberish to the song ‘Alien Nation’ and falling in love with metal music…which gradually opened the gates to the extreme.
Should music remain undefinable? Your music is incredible real yet intangible. What should the listener feel when experiencing The Answer Lies In The Black Void?
‘’They should feel whatever comes up, there are no rules. I can hope it can activate people to dig deeper in life in general, to feel in a wider spectrum, exist in a wider spectrum. expand their conscience.
Is music your only release? Do you indulge in the other mediums of art and poetry?
‘’My lyrics I consider as my own poetry, I like to doodle with handcraft and glass painting, clay modelling.
What is next for the project?
‘’I have to start on new lyrics, as there have been many new revelations, and process things that need to come out, and Jason has 8 or 9 new sketches ready for the next album.
Top 6 albums of all time?
Crowbar- Sonic Excess In its Purest Form
Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance
Type O Negative - October Rust
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Gojira - From Mars to Sirius
Draconian - Sovran
My Dying Bride - The Dreadful Hours
The Gathering - Mandilyon
Trees of Ethernity - Hour of the Nightingale
Vega Trails - Tremors in the Static
Tigran Hamasyan-Mockroot
And many more :)
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