“Misanthur was listed as “trance ambient noise” in the cold boundaries of the promo dump and just plain black metal on other sites. Truthfully, both are true. What this Polish duo offers is a hyper-atmospheric breed of black metal with heavy electronic and industrial flourishes, not unlike a blackened version of C R O W N’s latest, The End of All Things.” Kitchen sink-core.
“Glassing and I have a complicated relationship. Spotted Horse hit a spot for me in 2019: the first 4.0 I ever awarded ’round these parts. Unfortunately, time was not kind and my experience with its rough edges and one-dimensional vocals landed it on Contrite Metal Guy, where I reeled it back a point. The band’s tantalizing blend of concrete-thick sludge and crystalline melody is nonetheless unforgettable, and the initial hype and subsequent fall from grace is something that still haunts me.” Glassing over the past.
Hailing from Los Angeles, California, Dawn Fades is a band that, despite having a sound I find to be on the experimental fringes of metal, maintains a modest demeanor which comes through in their music. Dawn Fades’ specialty is not an ostentatious display of guitar riffs but rather the ethereal and sublime aura surrounding their songs.” Morning gaze.
“Chicago, Illinois’ Chromes Waves have been lapping gently on the post-black metal and shoegaze shores since their formation in 2010. With a line-up featuring members busy with other projects, it seemed outside interests were hampering Chrome Waves’ output, which was limited to a 2012 EP until 2018. At that point, founding member Jeff Wilson departed Wolvhammer and Abigail Williams, turning his full focus to Chrome Waves. Later that year, the debut, A Grief Observed, appeared, garnering a solid review from Mark Z. The same year saw compilation The Cold Light of Despair appear. This creative frenzy continued into 2020 as, apparently unnoticed by this blog, their sophomore LP, Where We Live, appeared. A year on, and further line-up changes behind them, Chrome Waves are back with third full-length effort, The Rain will Cleanse.” Chrome waves of rain.
“Enter Nashville’s Black Moon Mother, a group that you can imagine listening to in a smoky bar with a whiskey, rather than a dingy club with a moshpit. Playing a combination of dense doom, shoegaze, indie rock and even trip-hop, Illusions Under the Sun is their debut album. While certainly not everyone’s cup of tea, this is a notable debut, forged on the back of a compelling live show and a willingness to bend some of metal’s sacred rules.” Doom mother sex magik.
“I was surprised how unknown Nadja is around AMG Headquarters. I was parading around the new promo like a goddamn peacock, like “WAOW NADJA’S GOT A NEW ONE GUISE” and was met by a chorus of “uh, who?” The Canucks’ offerings like debut Touched, Radiance of Shadows, and The Bungled & The Botched made regular appearances on my playlist before I lost touch with 2013’s dolphin-themed Flipper. Since, the duo has released five albums, culminating in 2021’s Luminous Rot, which attempts to bring “post-punk, cold-wave, shoegaze, and industrial” influences into the limelight alongside their trademark “dreamsludge” approach.” Dreamsludge on a sunny day.
“What got you into metal? For me, it was blackgaze. I know, I know, it’s hard to believe your pal Doomy wasn’t raised on a diet of Bathory and his enemies’ livers; but as a teenager in the 90’s, I was mostly into indie rock and shoegaze. My entry into metal came later on, when bands like Lantlôs, Deafheaven and Alcest combined the dreamy, ethereal tones of My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive with the fury of second-wave black metal. Within this group was the Netherlands’ An Autumn for Crippled Children, who leaned even more heavily into indie territory with their embrace of dream-pop and post rock.” Won’t someone think of the children?
“After reviewing Timelost’s debut album Don’t Remember Me For This only a year and a half ago, I mentioned that I was curious to see if the band would stick to their angsty shoegaze sound or decide to follow their debut album up with a blackened metal sound more closely aligned with their origins in heavier, more aggressive music. With an album name like Don’t Remember Me For This, my hypothesis was that Timelost would go for the latter in lieu of the former. Yet again, my hypothesis was proven incorrect.” Time gushes by, lost forever.
“Back in 2018, Mountaineer’s brave concept album Passages checked all the right boxes. The captivating mix of post-metal, doom, and shoegaze was offset just so with an alluring sense of adventure, as the band threw in some odd instruments and bleak, cathartic progression in the songs. In fact, the mighty El Cuervo claimed Passages was one of the few post-metal albums he still went back to. High praise from our deliberately contrary Brit.” Mt. Buzz.
“It’s that time of year in Seattle when the rain is a comforting constant. It streams down in varying degrees of intensity, from barely-there mist to hefty droplets the size of large coins. As I was reading through Folian’s promo materials, I had a hunch the one-man band’s debut full-length Blue Mirror would be the perfect warm, dense, and fuzzy accompaniment to the drab winter weather.” Gaze into this shoe.
