WHISPERING VOID – At The Sound Of The Heart

vote
6.5

• Bands:
  WHISPERING VOID
• Duration: 00:42:59
• Available from: 10/18/2024
• Label:

• Prophecy Productions

We would have really liked to fall in love with Whispering Void and “At The Sound Of The Heart”, but after many listens we couldn't, unfortunately.
Partial disappointment aside, let's take a couple of steps back and frame this new Norwegian reality: Whispering Void is another long-lasting birth of the 'Gaahl-verse' (allow us the comics term), given that it was created over time by friendship between Ronny Stavestrand and Kristian Espedal, aka Gaahl and Valgard of Trelldom.
The idea was to explore different musical horizons which over time led the duo to write a batch of acoustic songs ranging between dark folk and psych folk, in a sector where the references can be Empyrium and Hexvessel, for understand each other; Lindy-Fay Hella from Wardruna was then added to the lineup for the female voice (who duets with Kristian's whispered one) and Iver Sandøy, drummer from Enslaved.
A bit surprisingly, immediately after the talked about return of Trelldom, Gaahl reiterates his eclectic musical path also with Whispering Void and – also given the names involved – we were ready to get excited and propose this album as a highlight of 2024: it is not This was the case, however, despite the fact that formally we are faced with a product that has been absolutely refined in every aspect.
The seven songs proposed reach a running time of almost forty-three minutes and move at a gentle pace through everything that can be defined as 'dark music'; the actual folk component is not predominant, even if the echoes of Markus Stock and the world of Empyrium are heard a lot and there isn't even that desire to connect to the seventies mood that so shaped the central part of Hexvessel's career. In this, the sound of ours is partially original, but what is really missing, in our opinion, are the memorable songs, even if the electric crescendo of “We Are Here” stands out (where one can reconnect to experiences such as Anathema and Antimatter ), the lead guitar of “Flower”, the Panopticon-like matrix of “Vinden Vier” and the beautiful single “Vi Finnes”. These are moments in which attention is raised, but they never correspond to entire songs, guided by a refrain or a melody that sticks in your head from start to finish.
In any case, it is important to say, in our opinion, a few words on the performances of the singles which are truly top-notch: the work on the instruments is excellent – in particular with very fine drum parts – and Kristian's whispered voice is also very effective.
What is missing is, as mentioned, a one/two of songs capable of elevating Whispering Void above the mass of releases of all genres and formats. Even just thinking about the internal competition, that of Prophecy, for now Whispering Void don't stand out. Let's hope it's not the usual one-shot, because there is still room for growth.