Dissolution Wave

Gorgeous heavy shoegaze from Northwest Indiana. Not far from doom metal, but no screaming, only charmingly downcast baritone singing. Very dense in the lower frequencies (though less crushingly so than on their previous album, Time Well), with lots of keyboard textures adding sweetness to the bedrock severity. RIYL Nothing, Jesu, Hum, ISIS's "Panopticon," Catherine Wheel, True Widow. Like Hum's most recent album, the lyrics are mainly science fictional. Favorites: 1, 4, 6, 7. No FCCs.

1. *(4:32)—Slow, bluesy. Crashes right in. Second half is an extended proggy climax.
2. (5:26)—Slow, mellow, pretty, with swirling textures and occasional keyboard pulses.
3. (3:44)—Mid-tempo. Relatively pleasant and upbeat, almost pop, with a recurring keyboard phrase resembling a hook.
4. *(4:37)—Starts slow and pounding, very similar to Nothing. Speeds up for the second half, as galloping rhythms alternate with outbursts of rich shoegaze noise.
5. (3:46)—Psychedelic dirge, like a song from Time Well but shorter.
6. *(5:21)—Medium-slow, with cleaner guitars. Dream pop? At least until the loud final minute. Oceanic and lovely.
7. *(3:59)—A slow, hazy, peaceful waltz. A furtive Americana song hidden under gain and reverb; I could hear Gillian Welch singing this. Guest vocals from the singer of Hum.
8. (5:50)—Slow. Dry doom riffage before a sudden shift to a gradual melodic build that cuts off just before 4:30, ending with something like cosmic hold music.