Sáasil - Ephemeral (2023)

Sáasil is a duo that comprises of artists the are already quite well-known for the readers of this blog: Carlos Herrera Quifes (Non Somnia) and Victoria Carmilla Hazemaze (aka Nox Victoria or Oculi Melancholiarum). Both appeared with their solo music on this blog and so their 2023 joint debut should really be inlcuded here as well.

The Mexican artists blend in what each of them has best to offer: the neoclassical, extremely  airy post-rock of Non Somnia and melancholic blackgaze of Oculi Melancholiarum. The results are as good as the could be. The black metal part of this music has this lo-fi atmosphere that makes the whole thing more honest and even more nostalgic. And the guitar-oriented music is not always too loud, there's more focus put on the subtle, softer sides of the compositions and this has to be the post-rock influences. This results in music that is both dark and airy, loud and atmospheric, filled with various emotions and properly distant.

Ephemeral costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Narea

Country: Mexico

Genre: lo-fi blackgaze

Label: These Hands Melt

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sadness / oculi melancholiarum - springgarden (2023)

Damián Antón Ojeda and Victoria Carmilla Hazemaze, or as they are better known sadness and oculi melancholarium, joined forces to release a fantastic split album earlier this year. springgarden feels like a perfect soundtrack for greeting the intoxicating season that is upon us.

The two artist who feel extremely comfortable at creating the lo-fi, bedroom blackgaze with a lot of influences from everywhere. The first two tracks are provided by Ojeda and they are surprisingly lively and energetic. The fast-paced compositions do have the signature haze and noisy bits (quite long one in fact), but the main thing one focuses on is the signature, dispersed but definitely not subtle vocals and the pace. In especially love the free approach to the structure of the tracks with long drone'y passages that divide the instances of the noisy shoegaze madness. The part delivered by Hazemaze is what we would call a true blackgaze: angry metal vocalizations and oneiric, subtle vocals on top of guitar-based but also very synthy and extremely flow-reach music is what the genre is about. 

springgarden costs whatever you want to pay.

Sadness - Rain (2018)

Check: Best Friend

Country: Mexico/Illinois, US

Genre: lo-fi electronic shoegaze/blackgaze

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