BodyVoid is an American sludge metal/doom metal band, formed in 2014 in San Francisco, California (before relocating to Winooski, Vermont in 2019). Originally known as Devoid, they currently consist of vocalist/guitarist Willow Ryan, drummer Eddie Holgerson, and soundscapist Janys-Iren Faughn. They have released four studio albums, including the Prosthetic Records releases Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth (2021) and Atrocity Machine (2023), the latter of which was critically acclaimed. The band have been noted for their exceptionally heavy sound, use of noise and industrial elements, and prominent queer and political themes.
History
Origins, I & II, and Ruins (2014–2018)
Body Void formed in 2014 in San Francisco under the name Devoid, with an original lineup of Willow Ryan (vocals, guitar), their[note 1] brother Parker Ryan (bass), and Eddie Holgerson (drums).[2][3][4] Prior to forming the band, the three had not played music regularly in several years.[3]
In their first two years, the band released a single, "Patriarch Scum", and a pair of demos, which they then compiled as the 2015 EP I & II, issued by Transylanian Tapes.[5][6] This garnered the attention of CVLT Nation, who included them in a list of "doom bands you should hear today"[5] and praised the compilation as "completely untampered" and "an album to be revered".[6]
Ahead of their debut album Ruins, recorded and mixed by Brainoil's Greg Wilkinson and released June 16, 2016 via Transylvanian Tapes, the group rebranded to Body Void, after a song on their second demo, in order to have a more unique name.[7][3][8]Ruins was included on CVLT Nation's top-ten list of the year's best sludge releases,[9] while Kim Kelly, writing for Vice, praised the album as "perfectly horrible music, with an emphasis on 'perfectly.'"[7] The following March, they appeared on CVLT Nation's Doom Nation Vol. VII compilation album, alongside Monarch!, Graves at Sea, and Electric Wizard.[10] In December, KQED's The Bay Bridged included their song "Swans" on a mixtape of emerging Bay Area metal bands.[11]
I Live Inside a Burning House and You Will Know The Fear You Forced Upon Us EP (2018–2019)
In March 2018, Body Void premiered via CVLT Nation the song "Haunted", simultaneously announcing an upcoming second album, I Live Inside a Burning House.[12] Another song from the album, "Given", was streamed via Metal Injection the following month.[3] The band again recorded with Wilkinson, this time adding Brad Boatright as mastering engineer.[13] The album was released on May 11, 2018, via Seeing Red, Crown & Throne, and Dry Cough Records, and given an exclusive stream by the website Echoes and Dust.[14] Kelly, again writing for Vice, listed it among her favorite metal albums of the year.[15]
The following March, they released the two-song EP You Will Know The Fear You Forced Upon Us, via the same labels.[16][17] The EP again made CVLT Nation's list of the year's top sludge releases.[18]The Quietus also mentioned the EP in their year-end list of metal albums, calling it "excellent" and "a righteous call to arms".[19]Invisible Oranges wrote that the band "demonstrate excellence at this brand of claustrophobic, all-encompassing noise devastation."[18]
Move to Vermont, signing to Prosthetic, and Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth (2019–2023)
In late 2019, the band amicably split with Parker Ryan, who left to pursue other projects.[20] Concurrently, unhappy with the Bay Area metal scene, the remaining duo of Willow Ryan and Eddie Holgerson relocated to the New England region, settling in Winooski, Vermont.[21][4][22][2][1]
The band recorded a split album with the band Keeper, released on January 15, 2020 via Roman Nvmeral and Tridroid Records and given an exclusive stream via Invisible Oranges.[23] On February 5, they performed with Bismuth and Vile Creature's KW Campol at The Black Heart in Camden Town, London.[24]
In the summer of 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the George Floyd protests, the group began writing and recording a third album.[4] The album was produced by Eric Sauter, with Wilkinson moving to mixing and mastering, longtime collaborator Ibay Arifin Suradi handling the artwork, and Janys-Iren Faughn, then the band's touring bassist and a solo artist under the name Entresol, providing noise and electronics.[25][26][27]
Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth was released on April 23 via Prosthetic, with a cassette release by Tridroid Records.[25][26][4] It was included on Kerrang!'s list of the month's best rock and metal albums,[32]PopMatters's list of the month's best metal albums,[33], Treble's list of the year's best metal albums,[34] and Decibel's list of the best albums of the year.[35] In an August 2021 interview with New Noise Magazine, Nadja's Aidan Baker listed Body Void as a newer artist he enjoyed.[36] Later that year, they joined Uniform and Portrayal of Guilt as an opener on the former's Fall tour.[1][37][38][39][40][41]
In May 2022, Body Void performed at the 2022 Oblivion Access Festival, alongside Thou, 16, Dorthia Cottrell of Windhand, Jarhead Fertilizer, Soul Glo, and Vile Creature.[42][43] That same month, they joined Primitive Man's 10th anniversary tour alongside Mortiferum, Jarhead Fertilizer, Elizabeth Colour Wheel, and Candlemass.[44][45][46] In August, the band independently released the EP Burn The Homes Of Those Who Seek To Control Our Bodies, of which Invisible Oranges' Ted Nubel wrote, "Their palpable anger filters into noisy, acerbic doom like a painful dose of capsaicin, burning and twisting already heavy music into something legitimately tough to process."[47] Ahead of this EP, Faughn was made a full member of the band.[21][2][48]
In August, the band announced a fourth album titled Atrocity Machine and released the project's first single, "Flesh Market".[52][53]Uniform's Ben Greenberg produced, mixed, and engineered the album,[21][54][55][56] with Boatright mastering, and Primitive Man's Ethan Lee McCarthy created the artwork.[57][56] Later that month, Metal Injection included "Flesh Market" in a list of "The 15 Underground Metal Bands You Might've Missed In August 2023".[58] On September 25, they released another single, "Cop Show", with an accompanying lyric video.[59]
In May, the band joined Vermin Womb and Sissy Spacek in supporting Liturgy on their 93696 North American tour.[80][81] However, on June 6, the band announced they were leaving the tour after only a week; no official reason was disclosed, and Liturgy claimed they were not informed of the decision.[82][83]
In 2018, Willow and Parker Ryan formed the sludge metal band Atone, with Ura and Zak McCune of the band Swamp Witch. They released a self-titled EP via Transylvanian Tapes.[93]
Willow Ryan and producer/Keeper frontman Jacob Lee collaborate as the duo Hellish Form, performing funeral doom with elements of goth and post-punk.[94][95][87][57] They released a debut EP in 2020, followed by a four-song album, Remains, the following year on Translation Loss Records.[94][95]
