Choosing to remain in the shadows, the creator of Vhoyd keeps his identity secret, letting the music carry the weight of his vision. With the release of "I Am the Void," he has crafted a soundscape born from personal nightmares. Here, he breaks his silence to discuss the project, revealing how he translates these dark visions into the immersive world of Black Metal.
Serial Metalbums: To start, could you please introduce Vhoyd and how did you come to create this project?
Vhoyd: Vhoyd is a solo project, based in the middle of Germany. Everything is written and recorded by myself - except the ambient parts in „Mara’s Dominion“ and „Venenum Noctis Aeternae“. These parts are done by close friends.
The project came to life in summer 2022, when I had a long period of really bad sleep and nightmares - which turned out to be what’s called a sleep paralysis. One morning I woke up and just started to record the intro for the song that later I would have called Sleep Paralysis. At this point I didn’t have in mind to write a full album or start a dedicated project. The nightmares didn’t happen that often anymore but I wanted to do something with what I have just started.
Serial Metalbums: How would you define your style of Black Metal? What characteristics set it apart?
Vhoyd: To me it is just some kind of Black Metal. I think it’s pretty hard to set yourself apart nowadays because there’s just so many bands out there. Somehow every riff has already been written by someone else, maybe executed in a different way and arranged differently. I think one of the differences of my own songwriting is, that I always go by feeling. In first place I wanna create an atmosphere.
Seial Metalbums: What were the main inspirations behind the album "I am the Void"? Are there any recurring themes or specific messages?
Vhoyd: As mentioned above, it was simply the nightmare thing. And as frightening as it is when you’re in the middle of this experience - there’s also this fascination. We all want to explore the unknown, don’t we? But - actually I never had the intention or plan to „just randomly start a nightmare Black Metal project“, or however one wants to call this type of music. And no, there is no specific message in the songs.
Serial Metalbums: How did the creation process for this album unfold? and how would you describe the sound of "I am the Void"?
Vhoyd: After I wrote Sleep Paralysis, I thought, that’s it. It just was a unique idea. Then 2 friends of mine - Brandon Sills, who is a excellent address when it comes to 80s synth stuff (we often talked about Trent Reznor´s legendary Quake soundtrack), and Montana Hill, a nice dude with a passion for blowing up stuff and also a great musician, were showing me a little thing they did together, what later became the intro for Mara’s Dominion. I was absolutely stoked and asked them if I can use it for something. Both agreed and in no time „Mara’s Dominion“ was written. The other 4 songs followed pretty quickly, so the instrumental parts were recorded until early 2023 already. There was just this problem with the vocals - I didn’t do any vocals for more than 15 years, so first I asked another friend of mine. Even though he was interested, there was a day when I just tried and recorded something. And more. And I thought, this is it, so I’m gonna do it by myself. And so I did.
Serial Metalbums: Are the lyrics of your songs important to you? What are they mainly about? How did you work to create a dark and violent atmosphere on this album?
Vhoyd: I guess you could call it a concept album. So the lyrics are all about falling into this nightmare, trying to escape. In the middle it could be a bit Nietzsche-inspired - the thing with the abyss. Until then, the person who is suffering from these nightmares, still tries to fight his dreams, just to escape the situation. Eventually it all ends in the absolute chaos - „Venenum Noctis Aeternae“ is the final stage of realization that there is no way out. Of course it’s up to everyone to see this in a metaphoric way. So of course words are important, if you want to tell a story.
Serial Metalbums: What are Vhoyd's main musical influences? Which Black Metal bands inspired you? and what is your vision of the current Black Metal scene?
Vhoyd: If I would have to mention one specific band, of course it would be Akhlys. I just discovered them a short while before I started with Vhoyd. I think Naas Alcameth is on another level when it comes to creating atmospheres. Just everything he has released is stunning and there’s nothing similar out there.
Aside from that, I don’t really listen to Black Metal that much, even though I love everything from Dissection, Satyricon and some albums from Mayhem. About the scene I can’t really tell anything, since I am not involved into that.
Serial Metalbums: What are your plans for the future? Do you plan to release a physical album, go on tour, or explore other musical styles?
Vhoyd: Yes, I would love to release some merch and physical versions of the album, some people were already asking for it and the artwork - which is created by Bahrull Marta btw - just deserves to be released on vinyl. But as of now it is just too early. It’s a simple calculation. The more people get to know Vhoyd and the bigger the request, the higher the chances for that. About touring - I would love to, but it seems like I live the part of the world where drummers don’t exist. We have endless resources when it comes to guitar players, but drums? Nothing. But I guess this is a common thing.
I think with Vhoyd the path for the musical style is set. Whatever may come in the future will sound like a nightmare.