Their debut album has been out for a week now (read our review here). What an album it is. However, death proggers Voidgazer are set for bigger and better things with work on the second album ongoing with promises of some diabolical tracks. Backseat Mafia got a chance to learn a little more about how they are, who they love and how they write those mega groove, riff-filled tracks.
Give us a potted history of the band
I had been experimenting with the Voidgazer sound for a little while, but finally got this lineup together and was able to get the ball truly rolling in early 2020. Just in time for the whole world to shut down. The pandemic came to pass and we were able to start ripping it up again, next thing you know we were talking to Atomic Fire Records (now called Reigning Phoenix Music).
Who inspired you to make music
The first artist to really inspire me to do what I do was Hendrix, but in the realm of heavy metal I didn’t really know what I wanted to do until I started getting into bands like High on Fire, Mastodon, Baroness, and the Melvins when I was a teenager.
And the one or two records that inspired you artistically
High on Fire – De Vermis Mysteriis is in my opinion the pinnacle of riff music. Crushing tones and tight tunes for days. They’re probably my favorite heavy metal band and I think they were at their best on this record. I write songs very differently than Matt Pike but he’s inspired me for a long time.
What do you say if you’re trying to explain who you sound like to someone who’s never heard you
That’s always been tough cause we’ve never fit into a neat category. One time a friend called us “the Black Dahlia Motör” and I thought that was pretty funny, and made a lot of sense.
Tell us about your first single
Jesus Take the Needle is our first single off of RPM.
“Jesus Take the Needle” is a bleak tale of the messiah returning to modern day earth and failing his mission to save humanity, ultimately defaulting to living a miserable life of abject failure and drug use. It’s a commentary on religious con-men and the bleak reality of life as the common man.
As far as gear that went on the record man we could talk all day about that stuff. We love huge tube amps, fuzz pedals, Les Pauls, Darkglass bass heads, and enormous drums.
Watch the video here:
And pre-order the album here
Tell us how you write
We’ve got a big library of riffs, and most of the time, we’ll come up with a few that work together already and just go from there. All it takes is two or three riffs to flow together naturally, and then we’ve got a really solid foundation. Once the skeleton of the song is hashed out, we’ll just keep jamming it and figure out all the small details in the moment.
Tell us about your live show and what would be your dream gig
Dream gig would be opening up for Sabbath or something. Our live show is fast and LOUD. We rock up with the big stacks because the only way to feel the noise is when it’s good and loud. We like to have fun up there, we’re always finding the balance of super serious musicianship and also being a party band.
What can we expect from you in the near future
We’re actually almost done with writing the next album. I feel like a lot is riding on this, I think a band’s second album is so important. Couple of these tunes are absolutely diabolical. It’s easily our best work we’ve done in our lives and I can’t wait to share it with people.
Socials links
https://www.instagram.com/voidgazer_stl
https://www.facebook.com/voidgazerband
