Writing about music is difficult because everyone has such vastly different tastes, but I do love to share some of my own personal discoveries in the event I can turn a handful of you onto a new band.
There have been a few new releases over the past few weeks that are all in the same camp – a mesh of doom and shoegaze, all of which deliver brooding, noisy, and extremely fuzzy/crunchy tunes. I love it. Maybe you will too? Check out a few sampling below.
Slow Crush
Fans of My Bloody Valentine should definitely dig into Slow Crush, Belgian shoegazers who are set to release their brand new LP, Hush, on October 22nd via Quiet Panic.
“The album radiates moonlit warmth through a haze of abrasive whirling layered guitars and soul-soothing vocals by Isa Holliday,” hypes the press release.
The band just shared a brand new track, “Swoon”, the second single accompanied by the following music video directed by Jeroen Jullet – a Jerry’s Joint.
Pre-order and pre-save the new album here.
Warm
Last week, New York-based shoegazers, Warm, surprise-released a brand new EP that’s skyrocketed to the top of my list of best albums of 2021. What’s Done in the Dark, boasting five excellent new tracks, can be streamed here.
Listen to “The Sky Was Grey but it Felt Like Heaven”, one of the EP’s standout tracks.
Shedfromthebody
Another underground act that is just unbelievably good is Shedfromthebody, an independent doomgaze/alternative metal artist from Espoo, Finland who does everything herself.
“Suvi Savikko‘s music paints a distorted, ethereal landscape, through which she carries her songs with hauntingly beautiful vocals and lone, wailing guitars,” explains the press release. “With primary roots in doom metal, doom folk, and early 2000s alternative, Shedfromthebody’s music varies from grim to comforting, from crushingly heavy to light and airy.”
Savikko has also produced darkwave music under the name 1X4X44R, and composed music for Perfect Garbage Studios’ game Love Shore.
The next album from Shedfromthebody is being teased with the release of the brand new single, “The Hollowing Girls”, from Black Terror Records. If you enjoy this track, I highly recommend her 2020 debut A Dead and Aimless Hum.
Gena
Last but not least is a sprawling 8-minute long track from Russian doomgazers Gena, who shared “Sooner or Later (” Рано ли, поздно ли”) this past spring.
The band celebrates a heavy folk flavor and has two must-listen EPs available on streaming services. It’s unclear if a third is on the way, but the release of this new track indicates it’s extremely likely.
“Sooner or Later” is a collab of sorts, being that it’s the first joint work of Gena and ethno-electronic project Oligarkh. “It’s a vicious, grim-colored composition tangled with the themes of Russian dark folklore.” Check it…