New album, “Kalvarie”, out on May 31st!
As the vocalist of Belgian post-metal collective AMENRA, Colin H. van Eeckhout is known for his ability to connect with listeners, and to guide them on AMENRA’s transformative path to healing. With his solo work as CHVE, he gets to tell his own story – one that aims to take the listener deep within themselves, to tap into something primal that dwells in us all. Now, CHVE makes his Relapse Records debut with his powerful solo EP, Kalvarie – a dark, ritualistic, and atmospheric experience.
For Colin, CHVE and Kalvarie represent the opportunity for full creative freedom: to experiment with sound without any limitations, and to embrace the vulnerability that comes with creating alone.
Though not in the ‘heavy’ realm, the music contains a weight and heaviness on a par with that of AMENRA. Kalvarie was recorded and produced by Amenra’s bassist Tim De Gieter, mixed by Seth Manchester and mastered by Matt Colton.
The title Kalvarie is a reference to the location where Christ was supposedly crucified, and also the name of the street where Colin went to school. The cover art shows a stone with a gallow on it – another reference to the Calvary hill, and also to the tattoo on Colin’s back, a symbol that has become synonymous with Amenra’s work. As Colin explains, he sees his solo work as connected to Amenra: “This is the story told by 1/5 of Amenra, so there will always be a connection.”
For Kalvarie, Colin was partly inspired by the works of Jean-Marie Massou (1950-2020). Massou was a French man who lived in isolation deep in a forest for 45 years.
The EP contains one singular track: the near-15-minute “Eternit”. It opens with the sounds of stones, before giving way to a sprawling, repetitive sonic journey that feels charged with elemental power. In the lyrics, Colin sings in French about the end times – just as Jean-Marie Massou did. It was also Massou’s work with stones that inspired Colin to use them instead of traditional percussion.
(Photograph by Guy Kokken)
