Voices (British band)

Voices was formed in 2011 by David Gray, Sam Loynes, and Peter Benjamin following the break-up of Akercocke. In 2012, Voices signed with Candlelight Records. The band released its debut, From the Human Forest Create a Fugue of Imaginary Rain in 2013. Peter Benjamin explained that the band was heavily influenced by movies, particularly the 2009 film Tony London Serial Killer by Gerard Johnson. He described the film as "about a guy who just can't connect with reality at all or people or anything. That’s kind of how we were feeling anyway so we just wanted to make something really cold, lonely, horrible and dissonant, so that’s kind of the whole theme." Peter Benjamin, reflecting upon Voices' debut, described the album as the outcome of the band just playing "some riffs randomly" that resulted in "a really cathartic explosion, basically." Benjamin also described the album as "horrible music" In 2014, Voices released the concept album London. The album was once again heavily influenced by a film, in this case the 1999 movie The End of the Affair by Neil Jordan. Awarding the album a score of 9/10, Smith suggested that, "Even at their best, Akercocke couldn't touch this shit." Invisible Oranges praised the album as "harrowing, evocative, and full of ideas — mostly good ones," but criticized the album for what writer Joseph Schafer described as "a little misogyny" which stands "in the way of London going from great to excellent." ==Themes==

Vocalist Peter Benjamin has said that Voices is philosophically distinguished from Akercocke. "Akercocke was more focused on the imagery and ideals of Satanism. For us, it would be boring to go where Akercocke and many other black metal bands have been. We believe that it's time to do something different, so we have taken on our urban surroundings and all that happens within as our influence." Sam Loynes confirmed Benjamin's perspective, noting that "The themes in Voices do not relate to any religious ideology. We are interested in trying to decipher the world that surrounds us. The music forms an impression of our misgivings relating to the distaste we have for this world. Yet, it is still a mystery to us." ==Live performances==

Voices describes its live performances as "exhibitions." Peter Benjamin explained that "it’s not really a gig, it’s a display of beauty and awfulness. It’s like art, we’re not just a band blasting it out, we’re displaying it." In 2015, Voices was joined by Nick Barker on drums for its tour of the United Kingdom in support of Winterfylleth. Barker filled in due to permanent drummer David Gray's previous work commitments. ==Members==

Current members • Peter Benjamin – guitars, vocals, piano • Sam Loynes – guitars, keyboards • David Gray – drums • Dan Abela – bass Touring members • Matt Adnett – guitars • Nick Barker – drums ==Discography==

• From the Human Forest Create a Fugue of Imaginary Rain (2013) • London (2014) • Frightened (2018) • Breaking the Trauma Bond (2021) ==References==