VONG

In the Shadowed Voice of Indigo Tongue

Emerging from Hanoi in 2018, Vong is a one‑man raw Black Metal project led by Indigo Tongue, rooted in the cultural depths of Vietnam’s history, mythology, and folklore. Through the 2019 demo “A Wander in Liminality”, later re-recorded and officially released in 2022, Vong channels the ferocity of early‑90s Scandinavian Black Metal, infused with chilling atmosphere and introspective melancholy. This interview delves into the creative processes, mythic inspirations, and existential themes that shape Vong’s haunting sonic tapestry.

1. Vong is deeply informed by Vietnamese history and folklore. How do these cultural narratives inform your musical and lyrical vision?

I developed an interest for both history and nature at a young age, but for the record, I’m only an enthusiast, so I must say my knowledge on the matter is still limited. Folklore was one of the things that I fortunately grew up with, passed down by my late grandmother and I was fascinated by way ancient people used folklore as a way to explain the origins of beings and natural phenomena.

As I was getting into Metal during my teenage years, I was very impressed by bands with Viking/Pagan, medieval fantasy or nature themes. So, I realized that what I wanted to do with my own project. But it didn’t feel right for me to write about something like Norse mythology because it was simply not my heritage, or Tolkien fantasy because it’s been done to Death. So naturally, I turned to my interest in native history, nature, folklore and literature for inspiration.

2. Your debut started as a 2019 demo and evolved into a fully re-recorded album in 2022. What prompted this transformation, and how did that period refine your artistic identity?

When I was planning to release the demo through House of Ygra in 2021, I listened to it again and again for months, and I realized there were many things that I wanted to improve. The performance was sloppy and I kind of outgrew the sound. Also, at the same time I had already made some artworks for each track to go with the physical release. Then, the label’s founder, Imperial Cult suggested that I should make a “definitive version” of it instead of using the old records. So, we made the decision there.

At that point, I had already recorded demos for 5 of the 7 tracks that appeared on “Phạn Hàm” so I didn’t want to rewrite the structures into the same veins of the new songs. Most of the songwriting remained unchanged, aside from the omission of some parts, added drum fills and tempo changes.

That period was also when I started to understand the kind of sound I wanted, so the amp to mic recording and a real bass were the biggest changes. Admittedly, upon listening to it again, I think it didn’t exactly live up to my expectations, but “live and learn” as they say.

3. Critics note your sound captures the raw spirit of second‑wave Black Metal while embedding atmospheric nuances. How do you balance ferocity with ambience?

By not relying on synth or clean guitar for the atmospheric parts. Two things that I love the most about Black Metal are the ferocity and the atmosphere, both of which I believe are carried by the distorted and reverberated tones of the guitars. A very good example for this is the Quebecois band Forteresse.

Of course, it depends on your genre and personal influences, and I have nothing against the use of synth when it’s done right. But personally, I feel like synth parts sometimes blunt the sharpness of the guitar tone and the overall aggressiveness of the songs when paired together. Same thing with clean guitars.

I personally believe that the atmosphere should come out of the distorted guitar tone itself. Reverb is essential, no doubt, but natural reverb is even better. So, I would use a room mic to record alongside the main cardio mic. Throw in riffs or arpeggios with open strings here and there to get the uneasy, dissonant feel.

4. Track titles like “Ất Dậu” evoke historical and emotional weight, such as arias of Death and depression. What inspires your thematic choices?

This project happens to be where my interest in history/culture and passion for Black Metal meet. And since the subjects of war, Death, human suffering and such are common themes of extreme Metal, it was meant to happen, I guess. However, it’s never my intention to glorify or romanticize such matters. Instead, I want to portray things as poignant as they were, much like in the veins of anti-war songs written by early modern Vietnamese composers such as Trịnh Công Sơn or Phạm Duy. Aside from that, a lot of my inspirations also came from firsthand accounts of previous generations of my family, as well as the historical events tied to Hanoi, my hometown.

“Ất Dậu” in particular was inspired by the 1945 famine in Northern parts of Vietnam, through stories that I found or retold by my late grandmother. I first learned about this event as a kid, during the New Year’s Eve broadcast of 2005, commemorating the 60^th anniversary of the event.

Not long ago, just a few kilometres from where I live, they uncovered a mass grave, one of the many that are still being unearthed every now and then. The neighbourhood was dubbed “the bone pool” by locals. My grandma recalled carts loaded with dead bodies, kids playing with bones and skulls on the roadsides, the walking skeletons that were barely human, the abduction and cannibalism of children by local meat shops and such. Families were wiped out entirely and the wealthy died of starvation just the same as the poor.

The famine itself was a combined result of Imperial Japanese occupation and the bombing of railways and logistics carried out by the Allies. Much like the subsequent Cold War era, we were just one of the many smaller nations that got caught in the gears of a global conflict between greater powers, trapped in the vacuum of history.

5. The title “A Wander in Liminality” suggests metaphysical thresholds. In your creative framework, what does “liminality” signify musically and philosophically?

I simply had a fascination with Death and what comes after it at the time. In Oriental beliefs, as one takes their last breath on Earth, their spirit will be temporarily trapped in a limbo, or “liminality”, before finding their way or being apprehended to the Underworld - the realm of the dead. In this state, the spirit is often confused or even in denial of their passing, since they can still hear or see their loved ones grieving, or sometimes they have deeds left undone in their lives. So, some of these spirits just wander in this limbo, refusing to let go of their earthly attachments. Just a concept that I found fitting for the themes of the project.

6. As a solo act, you handle all instrumentation, production, and artwork. What creative advantages, and constraints, does complete autonomy bring?

In terms of songwriting and production, the upside is that you know what you want, and you get to execute it. I think it feels more coherent because all the ideas are purely yours. All instruments work as one unit, like organs of a single living creature. They support each other or disengage exactly where I want them too. Of course, there’s much room for improvement here and there upon reviewing it but over all I’m content because I know my limits at the time and I know I did what I could.

The downside is that it’s easy to get tunnel vision when you work alone. Someone else who knows and understands the music can provide a lot of valuable insights. When I started out, I didn’t really know anyone else around who was also into Black Metal. So, the first few feedback, and criticism I got on the earliest demos that I uploaded on Soundcloud was very important to me.

And of course, there’s the limitation of my skills. I’ve never been a technical guitarist or a drummer, so a lot of the guitar and drum parts were kept simple. I’m quite content with the guitar parts because I never really liked technical stuff, but I noticed that when I rehearsed with session drummers, they sometimes added bits here and there and it gave the songs whole lot more dynamics - things I could have done had I known better. I also did not know much about production and mixing/mastering when I started out so most of the knowledge were self-taught on the fly. To this day I’m still learning new things about audio working and obviously have improved since then, but for future releases, I’d probably leave the mastering process to someone else.

Now, for the artworks, it’s obviously a time-consuming process that gave me countless headaches and burn outs. But I enjoyed the process and its fruits. Fine art has always been in my blood, so I guess my ego just can’t let me hand it to someone else. The only additional help I get is with layouts and graphic design from the fore mentioned Imperial Cult of fellow Hanoi Black Metal project Elcrost, who is also a visual artist.

7. You released a single through House of Ygra, spotlighting themes of depressive romanticism. How do personal introspection and cultural memory intersect in your work?

I think all Black Metal bands based in Hanoi that releases through House of Ygra shared a bit of romanticism in their works. While many of us are influenced by works of romanticism but maybe it’s also a Hanoian thing. After all, the ancient citadel for centuries has been the cradle of some of Vietnam’s most prolific artists, musicians, painters, writers and poets; who shared one thing in common - romanticism.

While some of these Black Metal projects leaned towards the “depressive/suicidal” side of Black Metal, Vong does not follow the same veins. I don’t let personal emotions interfere with the lyrical themes of the project, because like I mentioned, I want it as poignant as it was. And since the lyrics are written in a storytelling fashion from a third person point of view, personal introspection in these cases are irrelevant in my opinion. I think it’s better to let the music convey emotions by itself.

8. The album’s sound is described as “grim and cold” with “frosted aggression.” How do you recreate such stark sonic landscapes through production and performance?

The “grim and cold” part obviously comes from the tremolo picking and the “aggression” comes from both the “chainsaw” tone, and the Punk/Thrash inspired riffs. I did some small experiments with the combined tones of both guitars however. For example, the rhythm guitar will tremolo pick the chords while the lead guitar will play the same thing but with 1/8 note downstrokes (whenever it’s not playing the leads parts). This seems to create a harsh and grinding sound when two guitars overlap. Additionally, on the rhythm guitar I always play power chords with 2 fingers to focus on the mid frequencies, while on the other guitar I’d play the 3 fingers variations of the same chords to add another layer of high frequencies to the combined tone.

Another often-overlooked element is the bass. I aimed for a warm and clean bass tone in contrast to the fuzzy high ends of the guitars. It doesn’t just make the guitars stand out but also supports the punchiness of both guitars and drums sections. And just because it’s Black Metal doesn’t mean it should be all 1/16 tremolo picked notes. 1/8 notes locked in with the kick drum gives it a lot of definition and dynamic.

9. Your work remains independent and largely underground. How does this isolation inform or empower your creative expression?

It’s only independent in terms of creativity. I’m signed to House of Ygra so I leave the distribution and promotion to the guys because they know what to do. Otherwise, I enjoy being underground for reasons.

First of all, I want my music to be heard and enjoyed by like-minded individuals. I never wanted it to be trendy.

Secondly, in Vietnam, where censorship prevails, it’s better to stay under the radar. Extreme Metal is still a fairly new concept for most people. We experienced a lot of troubles with the Vietnamese Customs and post office when we wanted to send or receive Metal merchandise. Back in 2020, I had my demo released through a label based in the UK and my share was a dozen of cassettes, which never reached me because they had been seized by Customs.

As an artist, once you go popular, you’ll lose a lot of freedom in creativity. You’ll need to get approval from the authority and have your work examined by this department and that ministry to see if your work fits their narrative and so on. And in my particular case, history itself is a very sensitive subject. So, if I catch their attention, I may lose creative freedom and have to pay an amount of fine; or lose my physical freedom in the worst case.

10. Looking forward, are there new conceptual horizons—whether mythological, spatial, or stylistic—you're drawn to explore in future Vong releases?

I have other ideas in mind, but I’m saving them for future projects. For Vong, I’d stick to the same themes, even though I’m aware that one day I may run out of things to write about or see my artistic growth (in Black Metal) stunted. When the day comes, I’ll just put the project to rest, and if I wanted to write about something else or change the genre, I’d rather start a new project.

The End

Vong stands as a compelling figure in underground Black Metal, forging a bridge between Vietnam’s cultural depths and the icy, elemental aesthetics of early Scandinavian sound. With “A Wander in Liminality”, Indigo Tongue conjures desolate soundscapes that are as introspective as they are tremulously atmospheric demonstrating a profound capacity to imbue ancient lore with modern fury. As Vong continues its solitary exploration, this project promises to deepen its reflection on liminality, memory, and myth, inviting listeners into ever darker and more evocative realms.

VONG OFFICIAL BANDCAMP

HOUSE OF YGRA OFFICIAL BANDCAMP