Thursday, May 16, 2024

Oh Hiroshima : "All Things Shining"

 





Was a big fan of the Swedish band's 2022 album "Myriad". The band continues to perfect their brand of post-rock-influenced grooves.  The album opens with even hookier vocals this time around.  The drumming is highly dynamic, guiding the ebb and flow of the song, to create a backdrop for the sing-song vocals to reach out from. They lean into a more shoe-gazing take on indie rock for the second song. The build is more gradual and droning. I can appreciate the meandering jam even if it does not work off the momentum established by the first song. 

They ramble on with a more casual strum into dreamy waters for "Swans in a Field ". There is something effective in the layering of guitars that creates more sonic breadth. There is more movement to "Secret Youth" The brooding bassline makes it a little darker than the previous songs. I would not say they are heavy but capable of diving into more intense soaring. This creates a more cinematic peak.  "Rite of  Passage" starts off more introspective with a wandering post-rock feel. The vocals belt it out a little more to steer the dynamic build of the song which is pretty effective. 

"Deluge" sounds like it could have been from Opeth's "Damnation album, which works for me. The sense of seething shadows possesses it. "Leave Us Behind' feels like they finally commit to journeying into prog rock. It has been an undercurrent this album has hinted at but this song and the previous one are more deliberate steps into it. The last song wanders out into a more introspective place even with the bass line's burly tone trying to anchor it. It touches on the wanderlust of shoe-gaze with a thick shimmer. This album sounds great and finds the band experimenting more with songwriting. I will give this album a 9.5, and see how it grows on me if you like prog rock or shoegaze they have something for you here. Drops June 28th on Pelagic Records. 



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