Published: January 30, 2019

One of the many glories about metal music lies in the fact that no matter what, there’s always something new being made as the constant innovation and experimentation of metal is something that people like me can’t get enough of. Funeral doom is one of those styles that I’ve always wanted to hear more of, but the number of bands that call the style home seems incredibly small, but they’re overflowing with talent. Stepping aside from his black metal project of Chiral, it’s here that he returns with Il Vuoto that’s so much of want I never knew I wanted out of funeral doom with some drone peppered in because why the hell not!

I’ve always tended to be real cautious with one-man bands as they can be really hit or miss, especially given the sheer volume of them all throughout black metal, but doom is where you don’t really see it a lot. I never would’ve expected the mastermind behind Chiral to have a funeral doom/drone project, but after listening to “Vastness” over and over again, this is easily the most stimulating listen of the genre that I’ve heard for quite some time. We still see the undeniable heaviness that the genre has become synonymous with, but Il Vuoto constantly keeps you guessing as no two tracks have the same sort of pacing, feel, or impact with “Vastness” feeling incredibly organic and immensely well thought out as these five tracks power through with varying themes of sorrow and all that is soul-crushing. And granted, the core style of “Vastness” is that delicious funeral doom/drone concoction I’ve been going on about, but Il Vuoto doesn’t allow such a thing to keep the sound of the record pinned down too much as you can really hear the meandering between styles in the sound, yet not to the point where these five tracks feel like a jumbled mess trying to sound different. It’s all cohesive, engaging, and stupendously riveting as Il Vuoto has given us one of the most intriguing albums to ever start of the year’s exceptional doom metal with.

There’s not a moment in all of “Vastness” that I felt wasn’t amazingly compelling or immensely immersive with how well this five-track monster became an entity all its own almost immediately. From one beautiful success after another, Il Vuoto has created something truly special the likes of which I refuse to let become forgotten in today’s climate.

“Vastness” releases on February 12th via Hypnotic Dirge Records!