Amanda Votta – This Spectral Light (photo: Amanda Votta)
The Spectral Light‘s new album Obliteration is a visceral, atmospheric journey shaped by improvisation, deep literary roots, and a shared affinity for both crushing heaviness and ghostly ambience. Michigan born but now Liverpool based, vocalist and instrumentalist Amanda Votta draws lyrical inspiration from classic rock icons and poets alike – Led Zeppelin, Stevie Nicks, Carl Sandburg’s poems ‘Alone’ and ‘The Great Hunt’, along with Sylvia Plath – blending fragmented memories and meditations on escape into a hypnotic weave of electronics, baritone textures, and noise. Her sonic approach seeks transcendence through sound.
Neddal Ayad describes the writing process as fast and intuitive, fuelled by listening to bands like Low, Swans, Godflesh, and Wolves in the Throne Room. With a love for “big riffs and hazy ambience,” his tone evokes a fog-drenched heaviness, made even denser by downtuned guitars inspired by a conversation with Jon Free, who contributes to the track ‘Branch’, our video premiere.
Obliteration exists in that space between grief and clarity – bleak, beautiful, and eerily immersive.
Obliteration is released as high-quality cassette and digital download on August 1 2025 via Cruel Nature Records.
Purchase HERE ON BANDCAMP.
