Track By Track: Voidhaven - Voidhaven (2018)

The lyrics for the first track “The Floating Grave” are loosely based on a news item that Phil read. It was about the case of a woman who went missing. It was never discovered if she was still alive or what exactly happened to her. But in retrospective, it seemed pretty clear that she was abducted, since the last time anyone saw her, she was standing in a river with an unknown man by her side. The two had also been seen together before, walking through the town. Of course that sparked rumors of all sorts among the people, but in the end nobody knew the truth. We somehow liked the vibe of that story and moreover found it to be fitting for a new song we had just finished. We took the artistic liberty of adding a text-passage in the middle of the song that can be interpreted as either the river or the strange man speaking, luring the poor girl into her death. Apart from the guitar picking that can be heard throughout the song on clean and lead guitar (a very old idea of Phil’s that did not fit into any other song until then) the music of this track developed almost completely in the rehearsal room. It was one of the first pieces that the completed line-up wrote specifically for this band.

“Beyond The Bounds Of Sleep” on the other hand is based on one of the oldest fragments in the idea pool, dating back to a songwriting vacation in the later days of Crimson Swan (our precursory band) where Simon came up with the basic parts of the song. They were later complemented and the arrangement refined by all members of Voidhaven. Lyric-wise the song deals with the strains of life and having difficulties dealing with them. Most of us presumably know phases like that. The narrator lies in bed and his worries won’t let him rest. He desperately wishes to sleep (and possibly die) to find some peace. The different musical parts illustrate the different stages of his thoughts and feelings. The theme of longing to escape the burdens of existence (at least for a while) is a recurring one, also reflected in our band name.