Doomed Confessionary: George, José, René & Axel (Call Ov The Void)
Photos by Enlightened By Creation
Call Ov The Void is a four-piece doom/death metal band from Guadalajara, Mexico. Formed in 2018 with the aim of contributing their own interpretation of the genre, more melodic, introspective, yet aggressive.
The band made their live debut in February 2019, opening for Majestic Downfall at the former Anden – Cultural Forum of the city of Guadalajara. Later that year, on August 26, they released their first EP »Drowned«, recorded at MadHouse Studio by John MQ and Samuel Becerra, capturing the sound of classic genre bands such as Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, and especially the atmospheres of early Katatonia albums, as well as the melancholy of bands like Alcest or Agalloch, serving as the band’s introduction.
After performing live for several years alongside acts like Batushka, Matalobos, and Aetherevm, Call Ov The Void finally release their first LP »On Grief And Dying« on March 15, 2024. The album boasts exceptional production work by Samuel Becerra (Aetherevm), along with brilliant mastering by Swedish producer Dan Swanö (Edge Of Sanity, Bloodbath), and the spectral vocals of Błażej Kasprzak (Batushka, Sturmovik) on »A Peaceful Surrender«.
»On Grief And Dying« is a record dedicated to fans of 90’s doom/death metal.
Can you say a few words about your band?
We are a doom/death band from Guadalajara, Jalisco, formed in 2018 by George San Román on bass and vocals, José Luis Vargas on guitar and vocals, René Álvarez on guitar, and Axel Fabricio on drums. We enjoy all kinds of music, from 80s pop to depressive black metal, but doom is the genre we decided to play together and in which we usually channel all these influences.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Undoubtedly the pandemic. Shortly before the beginning of it, the band seemed to be on the verge of finalizing several opportunities: We were about to open for a major band from Poland, we had a photoshoot scheduled, as well as a live session, and we had recently released our first EP »Drowned«. We spent approximately six months without even seeing each other in person, although we didn’t cut off contact because we are all good friends. Eventually, we decided to move in together so as not to affect our families, and that’s when we finally started to regain some momentum.
What can you be most proud of so far?
Definitely our first full-length album that we just released this past March 15th. It was a labor where we poured blood, sweat, and tears, and we worked very hard to make it exactly as we wanted. It has been our greatest satisfaction as musicians.
What was your biggest regret?
Getting involved with certain people in the industry who didn’t had our best interests at heart and ultimately only wasted our time and efforts.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
There have been so many great shows that it’s hard to choose just one! Our debut with Majestic Downfall in 2019 may not have been our best performance, but it’s definitely a night that is etched in our hearts. Also, our first and only show to date in León, Guanajuato (the birthplace of the Candelabrum Metal Fest!) where we attended the album release of our good friends Matalobos, was a special night. Another special date was our time opening for Batushka in Guadalajara in 2022. It was an incredible show! And it was ver special because that’s where we met one of their singers, Błażej Kasprzak who collaborated in »A Peaceful Surrender«, the second single from our album »On Grief And Dying«, as well as more recently, the album release show of our friends Hell’s Terror. Honestly, we’ve almost always enjoyed ourselves at our performances. We immensely enjoy playing live.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
The fact that we’ve been able to earn some money from gigs and merch sales is impressive to us. Naturally, everything has been reinvested back into the band, but it’s something we never imagined would actually happen because it’s not our goal.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
For our drummer Axel, things like the latest from Pallbearer and A Rose Dying In The Rain as well as old songs from Khemmis and Sorcerer; for our guitarist René, things like Iotun and Septic Flesh; for the guitarist and singer José Luis Acid Bath’s Dax Riggs side (and brief) project Agents Of Oblivion, the new album from Crippling Alcoholism »With Love from a Padded Room«, Blitzkid, Calabrese and The Other; and for George, our bassist and singer Draconian, Unto Others, Twin Tribes and Calabrese.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Invest in your instrument and practice a lot with a metronome, be consistent with rehearsals, and dedicate enough time to other activities besides music, such as promoting your band on all possible channels.
What are your guilty pleasures?
We’re not a band that really feels guilty about listening to any genre, but for this we could name things like many pop artists such as Cristian Castro, Aleks Syntek, Miguel Bosé, Luis Miguel and even some “mexican regional” like Calibre 50, Los Cadetes de Linares, Banda el Recodo and the like. Perhaps the closest thing to a “guilty pleasure” is generally the black metal scene, with all the ideological crap it carries. We don’t like that kind of people, but we can’t hate much on that music (at least not the stuff that’s not explicitly NS or things like that). We actually love black metal, but it’s a little embarrasing sometimes.
Can you say something more about the music scene in Guadalajara, Mexico?
Our local scene is packed with great projects, often brilliant and intricate. We’re friends with many bands, and that’s always a good thing. Perhaps one thing we would change a bit is that it’s heavily focused on more brutal and fast-paced genres like blackened death, tech death, thrash, groove, speed, grindcore, and the like. Don’t get us wrong, we love a lot of that music, but it’s not necessarily our favorite thing in the world. It would be great for us to see more doom projects in all its forms, atmospheric black metal, dsbm, melo-death, things closer to our style.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
Currently, we have about five shows scheduled in our city between now and July, alongside excellent local bands like The Summon, Speedfreak, or Luziard, national acts like Becoming The Entity and The Antikythera Mechanism, and international bands like Lost In Darkness from Colombia and Hyena from Peru.
Also, we just announced our first Colombian tour planned for early October alongside Chilean doom/death band, Weight Of Emptiness, which will be pretty sick.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
We have the release of our album »On Grief And Dying« on physical format pending for this fall through a Mexican record label. We are also in talks to release the material on vinyl, and as mentioned before, we hope to be touring it very soon in our country. After that, we’ll probably start working on new music for next year.
How can people best support your band?
The main thing would be to listen to and share our music with whomever you think might enjoy it and attend our shows wherever possible. There’s nothing better than playing our music live for an audience. Monetarily, you can support us by purchasing our official merchandise through our website, as well as the digital album on Bandcamp, and soon in physical formats.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Listen to our music if you have a soft spot for the 90s doom/death scene in Europe. We believe that if that’s the case, our project will hit the nail on the head. We talk about depression, anxiety, failure, and regret, all the beautiful things in this world.
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well