Walls For Eerie, Haunted, & Darkly Hopeless Vistas

Active since October 2025, Wisconsin’s Vacant Align is one of the more atmospheric and texturally inventive wall noise projects to appear in some time. It’s a project that takes its time in releasing work, and you can certainly hear it, as each of their releases so far is a perfectly crafted blend of expressive and engaging textures. Behind the project is John Engman, who very kindly agreed to give us an email interview

M[m]: I believe you come from playing with death metal/ grindcore bands. Could you briefly touch on these projects and what you did in them?

Jon: Yes, you are correct. I played drums in multiple bands from 1996 until 2009. The most well-known being Brodequin and Foetopsy. Grindcore, Black Metal, and Death Metal were instrumental in my interest and involvement with the various genres of Noise. Release/Relapse Records, zines like Worm Gear and Descent, members of Metal bands I was listening to that were delving into Experimental music…Noise has been running in parallel with Extreme Metal for me, more or less the entire time.

I also had a Harsh Noise project called Custodian from 2008 to 2014, and ran a Noise label/distro called Pain Compliance Productions for an extremely brief time in 2008/2009.

M[m]: Has metal influenced your noise work, and vice versa?

Jon: In the past, definitely. The abrupt structures and tempo changes of death metal worked themselves unintentionally into the approach. Conversely, noise informed the extremity that I tried to convey on the drums…trying to create a wall of sound. I also always managed to work a noise track onto the records. Usually in the form of an outro.

With Vacant Align, however, I think I’m mostly drawing from more atmospheric, heavy noise such as Slowvent, Blunt Force Trauma, Gruntsplatter, etc., as well as Dark Ambient works from Archon Satani, Sleep Research Facility, Kaniba, and Lull. Trying to balance heaviness, mood, and pacing while attempting to keep a sense of spaciousness. I’m so far removed from participating in metal other than being a fan/supporter that the influence barely even exists as far as I can tell or feel.

M[m]: Is any of Custodian’s material still online?

Jon: There are a few uploads on YouTube of Custodian recordings, as well as several live shows. Many years ago, I pulled my Bandcamp down for personal reasons. Custodian was active during a very reckless and dark time for me, and I’d prefer to leave that version of myself to rest. I’m proud of most of my work, but it carries a bit too much baggage for me to keep it alive. A good majority of it is available via Discogs for reasonable prices.

M[m]: How many releases did you put out on Pain Compliance Productions? And are any of these still online?

Jon: I issued five releases on Pain Compliance. A Deathpile cd compilation of rarities and favourites curated by Jonathan Canady, the first Steel Hook Prostheses full-length disc…then on cassette, I released two Richard Ramirez side projects. Priest in Shit and Release Helen Rytka, as well as the first Climax Denial recording. I believe the Steel Hook Prostheses, Deathpile, and Climax Denial are uploaded on YouTube.

M[m]: What was your first experience with walled noise, and was there any one particular release/ track that inspired you to make your own walls?

Jon: I was aware of and listening to Wall type Noise in the late 90’s with acts like Blunt Force Trauma, Dead Body Love, Skin Crime and various other “Americanoise” projects that were not known as Wall, but were doing extremely dense electronics that was developing in contrast to the more kinetic, shrill Japanese scene. When that kind of approach morphed into what we now know as HNW, I was still attracted to hyper-activity in approach and performance due to my “grind drummer” mindset, so admittedly, I didn’t give it much attention. It hasn’t been until the last 2 years that I got heavily into HNW. There are several Wall artists and labels active right now that I think are fantastic, but for my inspiration, I still reference pre-HNW era dense electronics, and more so than that, dark ambient recordings. I’m more into immersion than abrasion.

M[m]: Please talk a little bit about how/ why you chose the project's name?

Jon: Naming the project was one of the most difficult stages of Vacant Align so far. I put extreme weight on project names. It has to tie together everything for me. The approach, mood, presentation, concept…it all has to hit. However, there was a moment when I was just going to use my own name due to so many ideas being derivative and/or corny, and I didn’t want to partake. I also am apprehensive of using something I would be embarrassed by, or regretful of in the future. You change your mind about things as you get older, so I’m now very cautious about what I put out.

Anyhow, the name Vacant Align in concept represents an encompassing minimalism…the convergence of meaninglessness, loss, loneliness, mortality, etc. and being at peace with that. It randomly came to mind in the midst of a period of reading too much Emil Cioran. When the combination of words struck me, I knew that was it.

M[m]: What is your present set-up for the project, and do you have a favourite piece of kit?

Jon: This is another aspect of Vacant Align conceptually. I use no physical gear. Everything has been/will be made on iOS. All of my current work has been structured, treated, recorded, and uploaded on my iPhone using an absurd collection of apps and audio units that I’ve been curating since first working with iOS in 2014 for audio production. I have to be inspired to work in the moment, so I refuse to be confined to a table at home, or tethered to a power source. I have an array of applications that do things most hardware can’t do, for a severe fraction of one quality piece of hardware.

M[m]: Vacant Align sound is both detailed & sonically expressive in a rather distinctive way. Please talk a little bit about how you create your ‘walls’?

Jon: All of the final recordings are generative. I usually spend several hours, sometimes days, finding tones, resampling, establishing a chain of automated effects, filters, and modulations to create movement in sound and stereo field. Once I have things set, I start recording and let the track compose itself. Brian Eno is a huge influence in working that way. Afterwards, I listen back on a variety of different systems…speakers, headphones, my car…often recording several times to get the eq/mix correct.

M[m]: I really like your use of murky/ shadowy cover artwork, which suggests creepy/ uneasy environments/ situations. How do you create these?

Jon: The artwork is a series of long/multiple exposure photographs of the space where I’m making the track. I chose an arbitrary object or space in the area so as not to have it be obvious/recognisable. From there, I alter the images with blurring, contrast, opacity, etc. to create something surreal. Much like the sound, it’s simply meant to be an abstraction of my current state/immediate surroundings. I usually work on this as the track is being recorded.

M[m]: So far, you’ve only released digital releases- do you have an interest in putting out a physical release?. And if so, what format attracts you most?

Jon: I am almost exclusively into digital for the ability to listen to something at any time or place I happen to be. In the past, I was a massive collector of multiple formats, and after having to move 20+ times in my life, I have no desire to amass any physical/material belongings that aren’t essentials. I do, however, have two physical releases available. One disc on Perpetual Abjection, and one extremely quiet disc on P.A. Sub-label Sei, which is themed around Japanese Minimalism. These can be purchased via the label's Bandcamp pages. I don’t list anything on my Bandcamp page that isn’t a digital self-release.

All that said, I’m not very concerned with physical formats…but if I were asked to submit for a release, I’m mostly into CD’s because my work is digital… analogue formats subtract from what I want to hear.

M[m]: Do you pull influences from either books or films for Vacant Align?. And if so, which ones?

Jon: With Vacant Align, I try to keep everything from within. Although, as mentioned above, I did get the name while reading Emil Cioran, so I suppose that counts

M[m]: Have you ever thought about playing live with Vacant Align?. And if so, how would you envision your stage show/set-up?

Jon: I have thought about it. It would be interesting to hear my material at that volume but the intent of Vacant Align is for personal listening…headphones, car stereos, a pair of speakers…at a comfortable volume for meditative experience to drown out your thoughts. That’s exactly why I make it.

If I did perform live, I would probably create some kind of projection that would be a slow morphing of my photographic work and stand in the “audience” to experience the full effect of the sound system….Vacant Align is not meant to perform. My physical presence has nothing to do with it.

M[m]: What’s next for Vacant Align?

Jon: No plans. Just recording at my own pace, for my own use, as I described above. The only plan is to keep developing the sound to more accurately represent where I’m at personally.

M[m]: What genres aside from metal & noise do you listen to?

Jon: I primarily listen to dark ambient and field recordings…huge fan of neo-folk and synth punk as well. I’ve also become extremely fond of listening to nothing, oddly enough. After 30-plus years of intensely and obsessively listening to, releasing, and recording music, working for record shops and labels, I very much enjoy silence and the sounds of the world around me, I’ve drowned out most of my life.

M[m]: What has impacted you most in the last six or so months- be it sound, music, books, film, or art?

Jon: The last few years of my life, up until very recently, have been pretty tumultuous. That has been the catalyst to a complete reworking of myself, which has brought me to Vacant Align. I often go on long drives with no destination in rural areas near me, and I get a lot of inspiration from the sounds of the road, wind, and environments I’m passing through. Other than that, there are a host of labels and artists I enjoy, as well as audiobooks that are in regular rotation. Mostly philosophy of the pessimistic variety.

Thanks to Jon for his time and effort with the interview. Vacant Align Bandcamp can be found here.