Oh Hiroshima: "Myriad"

This one sadly flew under my radar. This Swedish band brings shadows and heaviness to a shoegazing affair with atmospheric tendencies that swell to the symphonic side. They have a rock heft driving the core of their sound, but the vocals sit back as a detached narrative in the wall of atmospheric guitars. "Humane" was the first song I heard from these guys going into this. With that said I already knew they could write as a song as that one was pretty amazing. There is a symphonic ambiance to what they do that reminds me of Godspeedyoublackemperor!, it creates a very cinematic dynamic when things crescendo. The second song has more melody and movement, it helps that the vocals come out from behind the shimmer of the guitar. There is something emotionally powerful about where they take you here.

Rather than just drifting off into the cosmos, they prove they can ride a groove and make songs that hook you in rather than just drone you out. The vocals stat of very subdued in the verse of "All Things Pass" working off a 90s loud to soft formula, that recalls bands like Failure and even Tool. I do find myself having to go back and give a second listen to most of these in order to fully digest what is going on. The guitar is often pretty nuanced.  "Ascension" sounds like an extension of the previous song. The sounds are uniform enough to cause this bleed over, they do not pull-out new tricks on "Ascension" but rearrange what we have already heard them working with. Things do build in a manner that perks my ears up more as the song progresses. 

When it's time for "Humane" the urgency of the vocals and the syncopated beat are what makes it stand out from the previous songs. The power chords on the songs turn around also hit just right. The vocals also shift in pitch and cadence to create more dynamics than we previously heard from them. The last two songs begin to run together a bit as they occupy the same sleeper drone. "Tundra" might delve into the deepest sonic lethargy. The vocals are a ghost of a memory that hangs behind the guitar. In the last two minutes it might brood a little more. On the last song the vocals step out of the haze and play a more prominent role. I will give this album a 9.5, it's very solid and has a great mood to it, sits in the scope of dreamy sonics I enjoy and a tad morose. Suppose it was just heavy enough to be released on Napalm Records.