Hybernation [Weekly Mixtape 105]

Furnace Floor • Body Void • Counting Hours • Mourning Dawn
Morne • Worm • Convocation • Slower

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an interview with Body Void

Body Void are no strangers to this blog, having been featured on my Bandcamp Picks regularly since their 2016 debut. But their latest EP is easily my favourite- You Will Know the Fear You Forced Upon Us is a righteously angry screed against the alt-right that any fan of sludge metal should own. I reached out to the band to find out more about its creation; guitarist/vocalist Will Ryan was kind enough to take the time to answer my questions.

Bandcamp Picks - Body Void, Oreyeon, Niggght, The Devil and the Almighty Blues

For the past few years, Body Void have been a reliable source of ultra-heavy sludge metal - but they've really outdone themselves with their newest release. You Will Know The Fear You Forced Upon Us is a two-song screed against encroaching fascism, pairing the band's thick-as-molasses riffs with a palpable fury that makes their music more immediate than it's ever been. Make a stand or be swept away. [$5]



Italian quartet Oreyeon are the Josh Homme/Matt Pike collaboration that never happened. Not lacking for dynamics or catchy hooks, Ode To Oblivion stands out by drowning the band's pop impulses in overdriven fuzz. Taking desert rock to a whole new low [end]. [€8.50]



Formed by members of sludge fiends Dopethrone, Montreal's Niggght give sleazy a good name. Their debut EP Violent Delicacy delivers menacing gothabilly with a twanging sincerity that would make Johnny Cash shiver. The soundtrack to slamming tequila shots in a graveyard. [Name your price]

I must have been in a funny mood when I heard The Devil and the Almighty Blues; on paper, the Oslo band's slow, bluesy roots rock has nothing that I'd typically associate with this blog. But their third album Tre worked its way into this hesher's heart - perhaps by recalling the more introspective moments of Sky Valley, perhaps by pulling off the twin-lead guitar thing in a way that I don't think I've heard before. Blues to leave bruises. [€7]

Bandcamp Picks - The Body, Body Void, Ommadon, Hundred Year Old Man

Portland-based duo The Body have long insisted that they are really a noise act, rather than a sludge or metal band. To that end, their latest album I Have Fought Against It, But I Can’t Any Longer ditches the riffs for synths and electronic beats, skewing closer to Portishead than Eyehategod (if Portishead was fed a steady diet of Eyehategod, that is). The results are as dark and emotive as anything The Body has put out - and Chip King's screams have never sounded more anguished. [$9]


Since changing their name from Devoid, Bay Area trio Body Void have been making waves that befit their ultra low-end rumble. At times reaching Khanate levels of listener antagonism, I Live Inside A Burning House displays a solid understanding of dynamics, using sections of ambient noise and brief flashes of caveman hardcore to keep their minimalist sludge from getting tedious. However, with five tracks running for well over an hour, it remains a punishing affair to the end. [$5]


By calling their music "fundamentalist drone", Glasgow's Ommadon guaranteed a friend for life in me. Over the course of two 20 minute compositions, End Times drowns the listener with riffs as thick and dark as molasses, peppered with blackgazing tremolo riffs and ridiculously guttural vocals. Anyone mourning the absence of Black Boned Angel should join me in celebrating the existence of Ommadon. The album is available as a "name your price" download.

After a slew of well-regarded EPs and the "Black Fire" single serving as an appetizer earlier in the year, Hundred Year Old Man patiently laid the groundwork for their first full-length. Breaching often sounds like two different records being played simultaneously, as ambient guitars cascade over the band's heaving grooves. Their partnership with the similarly forward-thinking and experimental Gizeh Records makes sense, and the latter's embrace of heavier music is most welcome. [£5]

Bandcamp Picks - Dead Witches, Necro, Endless Floods, Body Void

After months of beating the drum for their debut, Dead Witches are upon us. With its rumbling low end and occult overtones, Ouija spells true British doom in no uncertain terms. And with Mark Greening behind the kit, Electric Wizard would be the most obvious reference point - but this is more engaging than anything the Wizard has released in over a decade. [€8]



DoC faves Necro finished up 2016 with another master class in heavy psych rock. Adiante, the Brazilian trio's third full-length, pimp walks out the gate with Lillian Lessa's confident delivery topping the band's Seventies' keyboard-inflected low-rider grooves. "Swinging" in every sense of the word. [$7]



Restraint is key to Endless Floods. On their sophomore album (cleverly titled II ) the Bordeaux trio delays gratification as long as it can, stretching out their minimalist instrumental passages like taffy. When they bring the heavy, it's with the efficacy of a forklift operator dropping slabs of concrete. Watch your heads. [€4]



Starting their EP off like repeated punches to the face is a good indication of where Body Void's heads are at. Their first release since changing their name from Devoid, Ruins is a punishing affair, alternating between feedback-laced sludge and (relatively) faster hardcore sections - like Eyehategod through a burned out sub-woofer. [$5]