Thursday 2 August 2018

RECORDS OF THEIR YEARS...with James Marshall & Thomas Colley from Forming The Void



In a genre creaking under the weight of its own familiarity Forming The Void have built something exceptional that stands apart from most of their peers.  ‘Relic’ their sophomore effort is a record that will long outlast its creators and live on, forming the foundations, of future sludge-monuments. So with such high praise, it was no small effort for the band to follow that up that album, but they have seemingly done the impossible and managed to equal if not surpass “Relic” with their magnificent new album “Rift".  From outset Forming The Void, have harvested the dense power of bands such as The Abominable Iron Sloth, with riffs that could level buildings and yet remain commercially accessible with a rich tapestry of contemporary influences to their sound that includes Baroness, Torche, Soundgarden.

Forming The Void’s new record “Rift” is one of the standout albums of the year and with the album set to drop via Kozmik Artifactz on the 17th August 2018, we invited guitarist/ vocalist James Marshall and drummer Thomas Colley to discuss their musical journey and choose the “Records of Their Years”.  Check it out below


SL: Favourite album from the year you were born?




Marshall: Faith No More , "The Real Thing" (1989), Mike Patton is the man, not much else to say.


Thomas: Led Zeppelin"In Through The Out Door"(1979),  This is kind of a divisive album, but I love it. And LZ is the best band ever, so there's that too

 SL: First record you bought with your own money?



Marshall: Metallica – “The Black Album”. My brother got me into Metallica pretty young. He had a bunch of tapes and Metallica was the first band that I really took to.

Thomas : Aerosmith – “Pump”. I pretty much learned to play drums along to that album.

SL: Favourite non metal / rock album?



Marshall: Fleet Foxes – “Self Titled”. This one took some thought and I realized I don't listen too much outside of rock and metal much anymore.

Thomas : “The Very Best Of Otis Redding" I really love anything Stax but I had to pick one album so this is it. In terms of musical influences Al Jackson Jr. is my #2, right behind John Bonham. Just a huge pocket and could groove like nobody's business.

SL: Album that most disappointed you?



 Marshall: Obviously as a big Metallica fan who actually dug the “Load” and “Reload” albums, I wanted “St. Anger” to be so much more. And it just wasn't.

Thomas: Most recently I think “Infestissumam” by Ghost. “Opus Eponymous” and “Meliora” are terrific though. I guess it might have been the dreaded sophomore slump.

SL: Favourite album of all time or if you prefer album (s) you’d run back into a burning building to rescue




Marshall: Clutch“Self titled” pretty much stays in rotation for me all the time.


Thomas: Led Zeppelin – “Physical Graffiti” and, Free – “Fire & Water”. The best album by my favorite band, and my favorite album of all time. Is it weird that my favorite album ever is not by my favorite band ever? Anyway, I really can't quantify how much these albums mean to me so I'm grabbing both.

SL:Favourite album (s) of 2018?



Marshall: Spaceslug - "Eye the Tide", Sandrider - "Armada", the new Conan and Clutch albums will be on there without a doubt as well.

Thomas:  So far, Sun Voyager - "Seismic Vibes"

SL:..And finally The last album you bought? 



Marshall: "Threshold" by Age of Truth

Thomas: Skull Mountain double LP compilation.

The End


“Rift” is available via Kozmik Artifactz on the 17th August 2018 and you can check out the video for “On We Sail” below



Band info: Facebook || Bandcamp