Glassing : "From the Other Side of the Mirror"

Their last album "Twin Dream" made it known that these guys are one of the best heavy bands going. More darkness and melody from the opening track of this album gave me even higher hopes. I have avoided singles allowing me to go into this with fresh ears. On "Nothing Touches You" the screamed vocals offset what might otherwise be creepy bass-driven shoe-gaze. They get feral and in your face for "Defacer" to deface your eardrums. The anguish of the vocals is tangible. I am also not going to ignore the fact the sung vocals that appear on this album are more thoughtful, and this is coming on the heels of their last album scoring a 10 and being the number 7 album on our top 10 metal albums of 2021. The bar is high, and this band is killing it.

"Ritualist" is beautiful no matter the genre they are defying. The way the vocals sit is incredible. The guitar makes a swathe of sound closer to what you expect from a post-rock band, while the bass and drum keep a downtrodden doomy pulse. The album's harshest moment yet comes with " As My Heart Rots" which finds them not only lashing out but tapping into some deep emotional unrest. They take another turn toward black metal on "Circle Down". This is black metal by way of screamo. 

Then on the last song, they prove they can just straight-up write catchy weird indie rock flavor screamo. The overall songwriting is even more refined. It's not as accessible as what Deafheaven did with "Sunbather" but they could win over the same demographics if put in front of larger audiences. Though none of this is contrived or thought out from a marketing perspective by a record label this is just where they are, perhaps even angrier than the previous album though there is a wide range of emotional colors being used here. I will give this album a 10. 

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