Glassing - Twin Dream (2021)

This is the third album from US blackened post-hardcore band Glassing.

Following on from 2019’s Spotted Horse, Twin Dream delivers 48 minutes of new material, and essentially continues off from where Spotted Horse left off, only improves it in pretty much all respects.

Glassing play an intriguing mix of post-hardcore that’s populated with elements of black metal, post-metal, and shoegaze. Their style is kind of what you might get if you take a blackgaze band and then run them through a series of post-metal and hardcore masterclasses. Combine Deafheaven, Converge, and Cult of Luna for a very rough idea of Glassing’s sound.

On Twin Dream the band’s formula benefits from improved songwriting and focus. The band also sound heavier than ever, which is always nice. Balancing atmospheric and emotive mood with angular aggression, these songs are as diverse and dynamic as their previous work, only here they seem to have gained a greater sense of skill, coherence, and confidence. The music is still multifaceted and greatly varied, but flows better, and the band have a greater mastery of transition, structure, and the use of atmosphere.