Glare of the Sun – Soil (2017)

Blurring the lines between Doom, Post-Metal and Shoegaze, today we have Glare of the Sun and their monumental debut release “Soil”. Featuring eight tracks of quite diverse and engaging music, this Austrian/German outfit delivers thunderous riffs crafted to perfection for very moody songs. This band manages to craft a unique musical vision out of more traditional influences, delivering a powerful initial statement.

After opening with the dreamy instrumental “Awoken”, the band fully immerses the listener into their perfect mixture of atmospheric guitars with heavy Doom-esque riffs in “One Step Nothing”. Alternating vocal styles between harsh screams and eerie clean vocals, the bad creates a very enveloping atmosphere that instantly grabs the listener with its surreal soundscapes. In the first few songs Glare of the Sun manages to craft very intricate and engaging songs that are hard to peg down to a single genre or influence.

Things start to pick up a bit with the intense and cathartic ending of “Circle”, which is then perfectly followed by the crushing drumming climax of “The Drowning and the Hush”. Our favorite track in this release is the gloomy “Degeneration” and its Shoegazier edge perfectly completed by a solid combination of growls and clean vocals. For those wanting a heavier riffing experience, the Doom-tastic “Groundwater” track reminds us of band like Swallow the Sun and similar outfits.

Closing with the mysterious “Coldfront”, the band reminded us at times of The Ocean but with a Doomier edge. Overall, “Soil” is a very good release that showcases a band perfectly layering guitars into a very intricate highly atmospheric sound. Glare of the Sun is without a doubt one of the most interesting outfits to grace our speakers in this young 2017, so be sure to keep an eye out for them.

Label: LifeForce Records

Release: January 27th, 2017

Genre: Post-Metal / Shoegaze / Doom Metal

Country: Austria / Germany