Interview: Oscillation of Void

Image provided by Oscillation of Void

Instrumental black metal appears to have found a following within the metal underground, even in such a niche genre such as black metal. Despite the heavy distinction of vocals in the genre, there is also a notable musical style that distinguishes it from, say, death metal. There are now a few artists emphasizing the musical side of the genre, including Germany’s own Oscillation of Void.

The first album from Oscillation of Void titled In Night’s Embrace, The Woods We Shun is a masterful instrumental work. The German has a distinct knack for placing a musical emphasis on storytelling, all while leaving lyrical content absent from the sonic picture being painted for the listener. It’s, as I said, a true work of art that can be enjoyed by both fans of black metal and those often turned off by the harsh vocals.

It's a pleasure for Blacforje to speak with Oscillation of Void about their first album, their other projects, and who they are as an artist.

First off, thanks so much for joining Blacforje for this interview! When I first heard your album (In Night’s Embrace, The Woods We Shun), I was blown away by how well-crafted it was, especially given it is your first full-length release. So, all that to say, it’s so cool getting to connect with you for this interview.

Let’s start with my standard, boring question: You’re from Germany. Correct?

First of all, thank you for this opportunity and this interview. So, to start right away: Yes, I’m from Germany; that’s correct. On the subject of the first full-length release, that’s not entirely correct to be fair. It is the first release of Oscillation of Void, yes, but I also have another instrumental project called “Nahtram'' that I started around 2017 which has currently two albums so far. It is quite different though stylistically (more orchestrated melodic metal), which is also the reason I started with the more black metal like stuff from scratch.

So, how did you decide to start Oscillation of Void? Was it something on your mind for a long time now, or was this a spontaneous project created on a whim?

Yeah, so tying in on the previous answer, it’s pretty much that I’ve always had a soft spot for black metal, and there might be some influences here and there in Nahtram already, as well, but I felt like I wanna do a dedicated black metal record. Another big reason was that, after the second Nahtram album, I was kinda burned out on that whole style with all the work that goes into it. You know, there were like 200 tracks of orchestration per song on average and lots of things going on in the mix, so I wanted to do something simple and easy for a change - something that doesn’t take me three years for one album. So, first I thought of just doing a Nahtram black metal album, but then I figured that it would be too different from the other two albums, and I’d rather start another project for that from scratch where I can just do that black metal style and have it independent of Nahtram.

‘In Night’s Embrace, The Woods We Shun’ by Oscillation of Void

Do you feel that instrumental black metal has been gaining some traction with audiences the past few years? Is it just me, or is that becoming more popular as the genre evolves?

I have no clue, honestly, and to be fair, I didn’t look much into other instrumental black metal really. I’m not even sure what is out there in that regard. I think it’s still quite a niche thing, as for lots of people the vocals are a very important part of the genre. I totally get that, but that doesn’t hold me back in just doing my own thing there. I know that the fact that it’s instrumental probably limits the possible exposure of it even more, as I already got turned down by some promotion opportunities because of that. But in the end I don’t care. I primarily make that music for my own pleasure, and if people are not interested in it because it’s instrumental, so be it. On the other hand, I also got some very positive feedback, especially from people that say something like, “You know, I’m absolutely not into instrumental metal, but that one changed my mind.” So, that’s pretty much the biggest compliment you can get, I’d say.

So, tell us more about In Night’s Embrace, The Woods We Shun. What inspired this record, and is there a theme – sort of a backstory taking place in your own mind?

With all my music I usually have some vague story or theme in my head. Of course, with the lack of lyrics it’s hard to convey that to the listener, but I don’t think that’s really a big problem. I mean, soundtracks do the same thing, and they also usually don’t have lyrics.

Inspiration-wise it’s not really different from what I’m doing with Nahtram. I really love dark fantasy stories in all its forms, so lots of influence comes from that. That also includes games like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring, which you might see in some of the track titles, especially on this album.

To come back to the question regarding the theme of this album…Well, it’s not like it’s meant to tell a coherent story or anything. I just wanted to create some dark fantasy soundscape in a black metal cloak. As for the album title (and with it the first two tracks), I think that idea basically came more or less from the Robert Eggers movie “The Witch” (or “The VVitch” as he would stylize it).

Most artists have a worldview that informs their creative process. For you, is that worldview informed by spirituality, philosophy, a mix of those two, or something else?

Not at all. My creative process really just comes from me trying to make the music that I like. There’s really not much more to that in my case.

Image provided by Oscillation of Void

Who are you outside of Oscillation of Void? What are some of the things you enjoy outside of music?

Music is definitely the priority number one for me. It doesn’t even have to be black metal or metal at all; I like lots of genres. I mean, even in Oscillation of Void you hear lots of that atmospheric synth stuff that goes into that dungeon synth direction, which in itself might even have influences from stuff like Tangerine Dream and the Berlin school synth genre and so on. Or with Nahtram, where there is a big focus on orchestral works and soundtracks, but I digress. On things outside of music, well, kinda boring things, really. I like food, cooking, I’m growing my own chili plants… Stuff like that.

Do you anticipate putting more time into Oscillation of Void beyond this record, or do you want to just enjoy this one for a while without any immediate plans for the future?

I don’t really plan anything, because that whole music creation thing is a hobby for me, and I’d like it to stay like that. If I have to force anything there it becomes more like work, and I would like to prevent that because it then probably kills my creativity. The long term idea is definitely to create more albums, absolutely, but I can’t say when. I might start working on new Nahtram stuff first now that I took a break from that, so there will probably be no new Oscillation of Void in the near future. But, then again, I don’t really know yet, and anything can happen.

Last question: Why not call this project Schwingung der Leere? Using an English name isn’t very German of you. (For reference, I typically ask a stupid question at the end for a laugh. It’s dumb. Forgive me ahead of time.)

Haha! that sounds like the title of a master thesis in science or something. No, I think I’m quite happy with the English version of it.

You can follow Oscillation of Void on Bandcamp, Instagram, and Facebook.