Style: Blackened death metal, avant-garde metal (mixed vocals, mostly harsh)
Recommended for fans of: Behemoth, Type O Negative, Ulcerate, Portal, Oranssi Pazuzu
Country: Belgium
Release date: 17 July 2026

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Peering through a transparent glass floor fifty stories below; hearing the groan of the London Underground intensify as it bends into view along the platform; accidentally “liking” a social media post from years prior. The sullen and magnetic feeling that overwhelms us in these moments is the “call of the void”, an escape route built into our psyche when tempted by intrusive thoughts or perhaps grave embarrassment. Curiosity wonders what the true nature of the void is: perfect completeness or absolute emptiness; physical form or subconscious warning. Possibly, the answer is somewhere nestled within the sonic confines of music. A place called the Whole.

Belgian outfit Emptiness return to “claustrophobic minimalism” on Nowhere Speaks where black and death metal waters flush into a formless space yearning for meaning. Recorded mostly live in studio, the LP consistently carries a charming grittiness across quivering guitar licks and echoing sound design. A sequel to 2014’s Nothing But the Whole, Nowhere Speaks emulates the former’s muddy dread whilst adding a triumphant undertone reminiscent of a hopeful film score. Oppressive, dense, and strangely melodic, Nowhere Speaks lands in a sweet spot that offers mature, non-standard composition without being overly pretentious in delivery.

The first moment speaks to the project’s thesis that all things connect into one dark, infinitesimal space. “Nothing But the Whole, Pt. 2” immediately resurrects the closing riff from Nothing But the Whole, a dry heaving wall of distorted sound, to tie the connective strings. Crucially, the sluggish fanfare fades into a soulless, ambient churn which comes and goes until “The Threat” kicks into a galloping rhythm. An intro track, yes. However, Emptiness frequently develop and maintain a stream of consciousness approach where songs are more so collections of interwoven passages, rather than firm ideas. “When the Whole Arrives” excellently executes this concept as the quartet arrives and departs over sludgy bass until the volume bottoms out. Only tremolo lingering on, the volume returns with impact and a faster pace hurdling towards a disjointed, dissonant ending.

As peculiar the songwriting is, the distorted spoken vocal performance borders on being a barrier to entry. From a technical perspective, Jérémie Bezier’s words tend to suffocate the mix and resound indecipherably even by metal standards. Bezier does succeed in delivering these sermons in a subtle rhythmic manner, avoiding potential stylistic mismatching à la Lou Reed’s monologuing on Lulu. I also find that the disproportionate weight of the vocals likely achieves the intended effect of revealing an oppressive stratum in the conceptual Whole. Admittedly, over the course of an LP, the vocals stretch and morph into deep echoes that don’t particularly wow at times. Yet the lulled expectation allows for the rare, haunting croon to briefly become the cynosure. Regrettably, Emptiness broadly shy away from indulging vulnerable moments such as during the transcendent climax of “All For Nothing”. 

If the disembodied voice and chaotic compositional entropy aren’t dealbreakers, a quietly proggy instrumental foundation remains to be explored. To its benefit, Nowhere Speaks passes black metal conventions through metaphysical reconstruction: where a blast beat would be hammering away, fluid crescendo drumming takes its place (“Words to Wind”); or, where steady guitarwork would suffice, dense basslines take charge of the song’s momentum (“Nowhere Speaks”). Emptiness further create order by sprinkling a leitmotif into “Words to Wind” and “All for Nothing”, adding a sense of completion. However, the theme’s introduction at the midway point of the album results in a degree of dissonance between the two halves. This doesn’t collapse the album’s cohesion, but there is sufficient space for details like these to appear across the run time. 

So, is the Whole somewhere or nowhere, material or conceptual? If a room at the Tate Modern were to be painted black, left completely empty aside from Nowhere Speaks playing on loop, then a few modern art enthusiasts might posit entertaining answers. From my vantage point at the Progressive Subway, Emptiness have constructed a physical Calabi-Yau manifold where songs pass along planes folded around a manifestation of doom. From time to time, these planes mirror each other a bit too closely and muddy the journey. That’s just the gravity of the Whole at work. It’s pretty weird and it’s pretty good. Ultimately, Nowhere Speaks rises above loneliness as a fascinating, inviting soundscape.

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Recommended Tracks: “Nowhere Speaks”, “Words to Wind”, “All For Nothing”
You may also like: Enthroned, This Gift is a Curse, Howls of Ebb, Aversio Humanitatis, Altarage, Inferno
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Season of Mist

Emptiness is:
– Jérémie Bezier (vocals, bass)
– Olivier J.L.W. (guitars)
– Simon L. (guitars)
– Dea Hydra (synths)
– Laye Louhenapessy (drums)