Soaring - Soaring (2025)

The airiest blackgaze of the year may well be already released as Baptiste Belot's debut EP is both strikingly dreamy and wonderfully fast and heavy. The French artist makes his music as Soaring and the feeling of going through the skies with the engine built of euphoria is kind of what his self-titled album is all about.

This truly is "heavy reverb music for the heavy-hearted". Because while the music is filled with fast, synthy sounds that will always make me feel euphoric and hopeful, while the flow of the tracks has a power to take you in its hands and make you, almost literally, soar through the skies, the lyrics are bleak and gloomy. It's about the indifferent universe, being afraid of emotions, dying. This stark dissonance is where the album glows. Glowy, drowning with light dreams about the absurd of human existence, the ones we like the most.

Soaring costs 7 EUR.

Check: A Blurred Contour of Everything 

Country: France

Genre: euphoric blackgaze

Label: Stellar Frequencies

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Besna - Krásno (2025)

After three years since their debut, the Slovakian outfit Besna shows us their sophomore album called Krásno. The Black metal here is only marginally seasoned with the "post-" suffix and while usually it makes me throw a bit, in this case the band's music works really well. I think it's also darker than before, but maybe it's because the world grew darker as well.

The title of the album translates to "Beautiful", which is slightly surprising. There must a good deal of irony in that as the worldwide situation is far from being beautiful (the band supports the Ukrainian war effort for example, and this crisis is nowhere close to an end, but the point is that the artists are aware and focused on what's going on, politically speaking). The lyrics supports this thought as, among traditionally metal-kind of poetry, there's this sentence (taken from the title track): "Indifference feeds hopelessness, indifference only feeds hopelessness". Indeed.

Musically speaking, the message is conveyed in the blackest of the ways: angry screams, guitar noise and fast melodies. My favourite track is the most deceiving one as Oceán prachu sounds like a peaceful instrumental interludium for the most part, but suddenly develops into pure musical anger. Again, indeed.

Krásno costs 7 EUR.

Check: Oceán prachu

Country: Slovakia

Genre: (post-) black metal

Besna - Zverstvá (2022)

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memoryloop - being and nothingness (2024)

They started as "pedestrian", now they create their music as memoryloop; they look like your average nugaze band of the latest generation, but they make music that is a tasteful combination of slow shoegaze and post-rock; they are from California, but they music says "somewhere cold". This is the second debut of the band and it feels amazing.

They make music to "give [the artists'] silly little lives a little bit of meaning" and, in my books, it's just the best reason to do that. From the look and feel of their image, I wasn't expecting a long, classically post-rock track to open the album. It's this sort of surprises that catches your attention, definitely. And it really sets up the tone of the whole thing: it is particularly solemn and melancholic. Slow. Deep. It sounds like a narcoleptic ambient pop that is mashed up with guitar post-rock tracks from time to time. Makes me think of Midwife if she played with, say, Ranges. Amazing combo.

I love when an album takes different, sometimes very different elements and yet succeeds in making them sound like a whole. Especially when they are a real party for borderline melancholics. This is my vibe.

being and nothingness costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: earth exit

Country: California, US

Genre: dreamy slowcore/post-rock

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Flower and Pines - Unconditional Love (2025)

I remember when their magical EP Hnieŭ brought a sense of difficult to locate musical unorthodoxity. I can't say what genre the music belonged to, but it's usually a really positive thing for me. This year, the Belarusian duo from the Polish city of Wrocław are back in the game with their longest release to date and the magic is back.

I feel like the record is slightly less experimental than the previous one, but maybe it's due to the fact that they now create their music in English. And in English they somehow sound like the most famous Polish contemporary band, Trupa Trupa. This is an art rock world class level that should be out there, being appreciated by another Iggy Pop or whomnot. Especially that it is slower, less rocky and most artsy, in some moments closer to post-rock with vocals, sometimes it's tribal like folk liturgy combined with a demonstration anthem. How is it all of the things while still sounding like a coherent whole?

It's also a "reflection on [the band's] worries, anger, and grief" dressed in different forms, such as "a memorial service, a battle cry, or a manifesto of humility. It could be anything, depending on your perspective." This reinforces the impression of a strong diversification of the content and I like the idea that it was intentional to appeal o whoever is listening. After all, we have so much to worry about these days that it may be impossible to talk about it one musical language.

Unconditional Love costs 5 EUR (21 PLN).

Check: Dogs

Country: Belarus/Poland

Genre: art (post-)rock

Label: Requiem Records

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MIZU - 4 | 2 | 3 (2024)

Issei Herr, better know as MIZU, whom Pitchfork described as "frequently gorgeous, at times unsettling, and constantly in flux", showed her third solo album earlier in the autumn. It is decorated with a beautiful and dark cover art that matches exactly the vibes of the cellist's music. 

The artist is known for creating "expansive soundscapes through her singular cello playing", but it is the first album where she turned from the ethereal, mysterious electronica to darker, more industrial corners of the music world. The picturesque description of the album on the artist's Bandcamp includes words such as "oppressive", "sinister" and "horror" which is all true, but there is still tons of other feelings in MIZU's tasteful soundscapes. There's love in the oppressive, there is kind in the sinister and dream in horror. I feel like this music has so many layers that you can't help but slowly dig deeper and deeper to find yourself buried by the heavy, multidimensional cello notes.

4 | 2 | 3 costs 11 USD.

Check: Fallout

Country: New York, US

Genre: dark cello soundscapes

Label: Carousel Productions

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Mondaze - Linger (2024)

Slow melodies and heavy guitars that accompany the ethereal vocals. This is the recipe for a successful album from the Italian outfit Mondaze. The band released their sophomore album last November and equipped it with everything that modern shoegazer looks for.

The band calls their music as "heavy shoegaze" and there is no two ways about it. The slow flow of heavy guitar sounds and the sad, downbeat vocals feel extremely melancholic. In fact, the layer of melancholia covers everything here like an opaque veil, making the whole album so intriguing. Especially that the songs are not particularly melodic or catchy, it is more about creating the atmosphere and the heavy guitar chaos underneath the soothing sounds of vocals. 

And this heaviness is not without a message. As the label cites, "A message on the wall reads, >“We don’t want to return to normal because normal was the problem.<”, the artists aim at critique of today's world routine: consumerism, alienation, harmful habits. I can only repeat after them the call for a change.

Linger costs 8 EUR.

Check: Linger 

Country: Italy

Genre: heavy shoegaze

Label: Bronson Recordings

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FOG - fogesque II & III

I feel like recently, shoegaze from South Korea is defined by solo acts who are more into the bedroom pop-side of the noisy genre than the fully fleshed-out bands. FOG is the latter so I had to check them out (I remember their first album, but it was soo long ago! (I mean five years)). And the level of pure noisy guitars is just fantastic.

The band released two full-length albums pretty much at the same time, so I will post about both. fogesque II  and fogesque III have pretty much the same vibes and can be treated as one, long and loud whole. The first thing you notice is that it's not your hi-fi, high-brow, "let's make the tiniest notes audible" kind of music. It is extremely noisy with this lo-fi guitar noise that can easily overwhelm you if you listen loud enough. The notion of the garage music can probably be applied here.

But the noise is definitely the only appealing aspect of the releases. The band is very fluent at creating particularly airy segments (like the end of Facade, probably my favourite track here), but it probably shouldn't be surprising given the band's name. Overall, I'd say that the first album of the two is better, the songs are more compelling and involving. Still, both are worth trying, that's for sure.

fogesque II costs 7 USD, fogesque III costs 7 USD.

Check: Facade

Country: South Korea

Genre: garage shoegaze

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Leech - Sapperlot (2024)

It's only February and it's the second post-rock album from Switzerland I'm posting here. I know, they're both from last year, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that it says a lot about the condition of the genre in the Alps and I can't stop saying that Switzerland is now chocolate, banks and great instrumental guitar music.

I have to admit that the album bought me with first notes. Literally, the first notes of Knock Knock feel so good, I can't explain it. Even if these slightly unnerving sounds don't represent the vibes of the whole album, they what drew me to the release so much. I'm saying that it's not a good representation because the album is... nice. The sound is very approachable, with extremely good flow and melodies fueled by synthy keys that are the background of every composition. It's not loud, it's not unnerving at all, it's like this perfect boy you'd want your daughter to mary. Even if you don't have a daughter at all.

And I can see how some may feel like it's not that good. But I can assure you, it is: the time goes so fast with the band's music. I find the synths always pretty transcendental, their vibes make it easier for me to flow in the sound without thinking about my physical self. And as the guitar side of Leech's music doesn't overwhelms the delicate synths, it's very easy to do just that with Sapperlot.

Sapperlot costs 20 CHF (22 EUR).

Check: Knock Knock

Country: Switzerland

Genre: synthy post-rock

Label: Instarmental Records

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Carlos Ferreira - Dust Inside the Light (2024)

There's a few ambient artist who I find consistently inspiring and the Brazilian Carlos Ferreira is one of them as his new album (19th I think in the last five years) is at least just as good as the ones I know. The dreamy, lively but melancholic vibes are what draw me to his music.

This liveliness of the little sounds dancing around you, but never stay long enough to be encapsulated and studied, tons of things going around you so fast that feel weightless, this is the kind of experience I seek in Ferreira's music and I'm never disappointed. The December album  brings it all once again so I can enjoy the ethereal ambient vibes as long as I want. Especially that the release features his compatriot Rita Zart and two additional remixes, making it a beautiful journey into the dreamy soundscapes.

Dust Inside the Light costs 5.20 EUR.

Check: Dissolving the Self

Country: Brazil

Genre: lively ambient

Label: Archives 

Carlos Ferreira & Ki Oni - A Hundred Ways of Escaping (2022)

Carlos Ferreira & Almanacs - La Deriva (2021)

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shedfromthebody - Whisper and Wane (2025)

It's becoming a layman tradition that if it's a winter of an odd year, there's a new album from Suvi Savikko, better known as Shedfromthebody. And it surprise anyone as the Finnish artist's music is as dark as the long, freezing nights in Scandinavia and equally mysterious.

The artist's signature style stays the same: the more dreamy than nightmarish vocals play the main role not only to boost up the atmosphere, but also convey intriguing melodies (very Scandinavian dark pop-like) and disturbing lyrics. And the music stays decisively in the background, even if it is made with metal-like instruments, it is designed to accompany the vocals, but nothing more. While usually it's something that bothers me (I'm looking at you, Dry Cleaning), here it makes a perfect sense. It's like dark ambient backgrounds but played with real (I think) instruments. And also being a bit metal. Still, it works.

It should also be mentioned that Savikko is also a talented visual artist and she painted the cover art (and company pieces available to see at her Instagram) herself. They are also really good. And unsettling. But as Shedfromthebody describes herself: she's a "provider of immaculate vibes". Checks out.

Whisper and Wane costs 7 EUR.

Check: Mooring

Country: Finland

Genre: dark doomgaze

shedfromthebody - To Hold the Ripened Sun (2021)

shedfromthebody - A Dead and Aimless Hum (2020) 

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black particles - a path in entropy (2024)

In post-rock music, I look for one of three things: either the overpowering melancholia, or the overwhelming guitar heaviness or the energetic blizzard of melodies and fast pace. The Hungarian outfit of black particles redefined the last one with a fantastic album a path in entropy released last November. It's a blast that should never stop.

There is not a second wasted, the band instantly goes to the fast-paced, pure energy kind of music. It is very melodic, but there is no space for idle guitar intros and gentle weeping, it's the juicy tempo from the very beginning. I wanted to pause to grab a coffee, but I was taken by the album's flow and simply couldn't. Luckily, the sound itself is filled with caffeine that makes your body awaken and energized. Especially when you get to the torrent of guitars entitled the stranger in the mirror. This all makes it clear that the musicians have background in post-hardcore, screamo music as the energy is very similar but translated into well-structured, guitar-based compositions. I love it.

a path in entropy costs 6.66 EUR.

Check: the stranger in the mirror

Country: Hungary

Genre: energetic post-rock

black particles - loss function (2022)

Black Particles - Wave Function Collapse (2020)

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EERIÆRMOR - EERIÆRMOR (2024)

Kevin Gan Yuen known from the black noise Sutekh Hexen and as Fermentae released his first album under the moniker of EERIÆRMOR. The self-titled LP makes a great combination of two sides of electronica: the lively ambient and industrial noise. And those contrasting vibes go together surprisingly well.

The album is designed to convey "a powerful emotional imprint, guiding the listener from states of liminal ecstasis to expressing unification of beauty and brutality". The way the artist achieves it is combining beautiful ambient () passages with moments of harsh noise, creating this kind of contrast that is very satisfying to listen to. Although, to be fair, the harshness of the noise is softer than I'd expect so the barrier to entry is not that significant. 

EERIÆRMOR costs 7 USD.

Check: I, Rainmaker

Country: California, US

Genre: noisy electronica

Label: Cyclic Law

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All You've Seen - Mavu (2024)

The post-rock landscape of Switzerland doesn't stop surprise me, when I think that in such a smal country, there can't be more excellent bands of the genre, I find one more. So after Glaston, Hubris. and all the other, it's time to present All You've Seen on this blog, especially that at the end of last year, they released a fantastic album filled with slow but poignant guitar music.

And also because this is ot a new band. Their releases track back as far as 2009 and still, our musical paths hadn't crossed before. And it's very suspicious as I find that they play this kind of post-rock that is the closest to my heart: slow and dark, moody and dangerous. One would say glacial, but that would be an overused adjective for a Swiss band I'm sure. "A sense of awe overtakes me when I behold this world that can only be revealed by my innermost self", this is only an excerpt from a longer description of the album on the band's Bandcamp page and I have to say that it certainly sounds like something Alcest would write about their music.

And it's pretty much spot on. The poetic way of describing the music is perfect since the music is poetic itself. It is oneiric to the point where you can't tell the dream from reality around you. Especially when it becomes overwhelming, filled with this kind of sonic grandeur that fill you with awe with little room for any other thoughts (as it is the case in procession).

Mavu costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: procession

Country: Switzerland

Genre: atmospheric post-rock

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SPANAWAY - Songs of Yesteryear (2024)

The Pennsylvania band's sophomore album is clearly more appreciate than the debut, and his to be said that their Nothing-like nugaze with more focus on melodies and less on the noise has everything to be one of the most important releases of the last quarter of 2024.

Nothing was the first thing that I came to my mind while listening to Songs of Yesteryear: there is something very familiar in the vocals and the high-quality guitar backgrounds. In fact, their PR company advertises the album talking about "alt-rock masterpiece" with "lush, heartbroken songs" and comparing it to Nothing among other artists. The only difference between the two bands is that SPANAWAY really focus on the melodies and catchiness of their song as well as the soft cushion of the vocals that accompanies the listener on every step while the noisy aspect of nugaze is less prominent (even if it appears from time to time like in Terrible).

But it's not a problem, especially that I like the sadder face of the album with songs like Twenty Seven or Born to Lose so I'm labeling them in my head as Sadder Nothing and I hope they'd like it.

Songs of Yesteryear costs 7 USD.

Check: Twenty Seven

Country: Pennsylvania, US

Genre: melancholic nugaze

Label: Burial Whisper

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Wale Fall - Five (2024)

It's almost five years since this Los Angeles band appeared on the blog with their fourth album. As the title of the new one suggests, I haven't missed any of their releases in the way and it's a good thing as the Americans offer a quality guitar-based post-rock soaked with their own unique style based on the use of brass instruments.

The touch of the brass instruments sound is certainly something that makes the band unique. In fact, the album is opened by El Jinete, a track that revolves around, what I presume is, the traditional Mexican trumpet music. I mean I know it from westerns and Zorro probably, but this is my association, and, if it's correct, I like the fact that the Californian band embraces the region's history and channels it in their music. Unique and coherent. But the band use even more unorthodox instrument, like cello that adds to the atmospheric side of their music.

But the overall vibes on the album are less atmospheric or noisy and more into the melodic nature of instrumental music. In fact, I'd say it's music that sits on the verge of what we consider post-rock and it's a good thing too. This is also strengthen by the act that the musicians also stress how important improvisation is for their creative process, making me think less of post-rock and more of other instrumental-only genres. Regardless, a unique album with great music (and some sense of humour too in some of the track titles). 

Five costs 7 USD.

Whale Fall - It Will Become Itself (2020)

Check: Fjord Lightning

Country: California, US

Genre: melodic post-rock

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Shentov, Simitchiev, Lukanov - Pain and Power (2024)

Amek Collective always brings to my ears something that is worth mentioning. This time the ambient label from Bulgaria released a joint-effort from three their compatriots: Ivan Shentov (aka Krāllār), Martin Lukanov, and Angel Simitchiev (aka Mytrip).

This is the second collaboration of the gentlemen after the 2022's Palimpsest. Like on that album, Pain and Power offers minimalist but extremely dark ambient sounds that build up the reflective state in one's mind the longer the album plays. This is music that feels like the earth's subtle movements, like the dark caves look, like a persistent call to go back to the simpler times. It should be listened to in complete darkness and then it's felt in your bones.

Pain and Power costs 5 EUR.

Check: Light Barrier

Country: Bulgaria

Genre: minimal dark ambient

Label: Amek Collective

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There's a Light & Noir Reva - Anam Cara (2024)

Two German (mostly) instrumental bands released a split album back in November and brought as a healthy dose of good guitar post-rock. The better known There's a Light from Lahr and their compatriots, Noir Reva, from Koblenz made sure to fill this short release with some juicy stuff.

The first part belongs to There's a Light, who composed their songs with a lot of post-rock aspects: the soft guitar dancing (I don't like this that much), the heavier guitar crushes (I like them very much), the melodic story-telling and the nostalgic atmosphere. The second track, Aporia, surprises twice: the first notes sound almost like minimalist chip tune, but it eventually grows into a full-fledged post-rock composition until it is joined by, it's the second surprise, almost... progressive rock-like vocals. I think it all works together pretty well.

The second part from Noir Reva shows that the lesser known band is very able to make interesting music. Their compositions are faster, more complex (with some interesting samples in the background I think) and catchier. The energy is pretty contagious and it's difficult no to dance to Svartur. Which is great, but in Noir Reva's case I do believe the faster the better. as the closing track is one that my mind completely ignored every time I  listened to the EP.

Anam Cara costs 4.99 EUR.

 

Check: Aporia

Country: Germany

Genre: guitar post-rock

Label: Broken Youth Records

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93MillionMilesFromTheSun - Let Go (2024)

The British nugaze powerhouse is a frequent guest on this blog and there are good reasons for it. Led by Nick Noble, the noisy collective released their new album (I can't count so well to tell you which one in their discography) when other people were just getting calmer before Christmas.

It's their signature sound: you have to dig deep into the layers of noisy guitars, samples and whatnot to find the soft vocals and melodies. But if you do that, you are rewarded with some most beautiful and catchy songs on the shoegaze market, as in Sleep for example. This track could easily be an indie rock hit if stripped down of the noisy elements, but it'd lose a lot of its charm, no doubt about it. The punch, the melancholia lie in the overwhelming music the band donates right into the audience's ears. Sleep is dethroned as my best-loved later in the album by Only Living Now, which became one of my favourite songs at the beginning of the new year.

If I have to have one complaint, it's that it's too long for my attention span. Interestingly, Noble states that it was their most difficult album to finish and show to the world due to the band's lineup changes (which I don't hear in their sound at all) and personal problems. 'If I'm honest,' he adds, 'I'm not sure I still do want it to come out'. I, for one, am keen to say that I'm very happy it did in the end. Made the year's end better than it could have been.

Let Go costs 7 GBP (8.5 EUR).

Check: Only Living Now

Country: UK

Genre: guitar nugaze

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Soulless, Sadness - burning as the first light (2024)

Damián Antón Ojeda, professionally known as Sadness is already a well-known name for any fan looking for the blackgaze scene's underdogs. The Mexican artist releases a number of shorter and longer albums a year and towards the end of 2024, he joined forces with his lesser known, but at least as interesting, Indonesian counterpart, Soulless. 

The album is opened by an intro that sound more like a melancholic ambientish piece, but soon enough bursts into Sadness' signature noise. It is made with harsh noise of guitars that is hidden behind the silky flow of piano keys and, finally, vocals. Those are rather fresh-sounding, hopeful, energetic, providing a pleasurable contrast with the music, beautiful in its melancholy. His second track feels like a complementing piece, an ornament underlining the importance of every edge of your name, burning.

The part of the split provided by Soulless has a slightly different taste to it. While it is also a prime example of underground blackgaze music, the vibes are changed: the black metal vocals add the element of anger and depression that, when juxtaposed with the synthy, flowy music, always brings a tear to my eye. The euphoric parts come to the picture in the second track by Soulless and they make the whole blackgazey picture absolutely complete.

burning as the first light costs 4 USD.

Check: every edge of your name, burning

Country: Indonesia, Mexico/US

Genre: synthy blackgaze

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