Welcome to the night and all who dwell in it. I guess that could be the basic premise here but as the artwork shows night has not quite fallen yet and we are in that crepuscular void between light and darkness. The Howling Void is the work of one person, Ryan or R from San Antonia in Texas. I have consumed a couple of his previous three albums in the past and always found his work highly atmospheric and looking back to a review of last album ‘The Womb Between The World’ I described it as a “hugely enjoyable and mesmerising trip.”
That is pretty much consistent with ‘Nightfall.’ What we have are six lengthy tracks spanning over an hours worth of music. I have found on listening to this that they really are not worth breaking down into separate works as the whole piece pretty much flows together as one lengthy session. There is not a huge amount of variation between tracks either and this is one to just press play and see where it takes you. It is what I might be tempted to describe as dreamscape music. One that like the title subject itself exists at a point of transit, not being quite light or dark it is one that I found myself being lulled into in a state of not being quite awake or asleep, if that makes any sense. It almost has the listener sleepwalking through it but still being alert to what is going on as it ebbs and flows with an almost beatific peace and warmth through its soporific caress.
Musically it is probably best compartmentalised as funeral doom. Nothing goes fast as it leads you down its paths. Bells toll, guitars mourn and keyboards add to the sombre funereal pace of it with extra atmosphere behind them. In the past there were deep and craggy vocals on albums but they are not to be found here, I think it would completely ruin the tone and textures of the music if they were. Instead vocals play a very underlying part to the music and are devotional sounding like a faint choir of monks worshipping in the distance. Indeed at times you forget about vocals completely and at others they just dwell in the lengthening shadows. In fact they are poetically presented as just the odd line here and there, enhancing the music ever so slightly.
This is not the sort of music you should listen to whilst attempting to do anything else. Driving and operating heavy machinery is not advisable in the slightest. I have found it a great reading companion and it has a timeless feel about it like good literature itself. There’s not a huge amount more I can say here really; Nightfall is very much an album for a certain time and place; listening to it at that point will be highly rewarding.
(7/10 Pete Woods)
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