#redsparowes — Public Fediverse posts

T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land brims with quotable quotes, no section more than I: The Burial of the Dead. There, we learn that ‘April is the cruellest month,’ see ‘fear in a handful of dust,’1 and drift through the ‘Unreal City’ (1, 30, 60). For the title of their sixth album, Swedish post-rock duo Oh Hiroshima digs into the opening gambit of Eliot’s modernist epic for a deeper cut: ‘Son of man, / You cannot say, or guess, for you know only / A heap of broken images, where the sun beats, / And the dead tree gives no shelter” (20–23, emphasis mine).2 The ‘dead tree,’ the band explains in their promo materials, serves as a fitting metaphor for ‘ways of living that drain the world of meaning and offer no real way of navigating the hardships of life.’ Cloistering oneself from an increasingly dystopian world breeds cynicism and apathy, making it impossible to overcome the despair caused by this world.3 Musically, And the Dead Tree Gives No Shelter attempts to ‘paint something meaningful and hopeful’ that can help us ‘leave the shelterless dead trees of our lives behind.’ For Oh Hiroshima to achieve such lofty ambitions, the tracks populating Dead Tree must avoid resembling a heap of broken images, instead cohering into a compendium of vulnerable yet powerful songs.

On And the Dead Tree Gives No Shelter, Oh Hiroshima continue diversifying their cathartic take on post-rock. Since 2022’s Myriad, Jakob Hemström (guitar, bass, vocals) and Oskar Nilsson (drums, percussion) have been adding progressive rock elements into their repertoire.4 Dead Tree recalls the textured guitar work of Mogwai, the nuanced rhythms of Tortoise, and the driving immediacy of latter-day Thrice. Subtly, the compositions are often non-traditional, gradually layering sparkling guitars over odd-time drum n’ bass and crescendoing into heavier riffing (“Meridian”). Adding to the adventurous compositions is orchestral instrumentation, with delicate piano twinkles and soaring strings swirling around the rock-band core (“Tree of Life”). Sometimes, Dead Tree releases tension through driving energy; other times, it bottles up the tension, creating a sense of longing.

And the Dead Tree Gives No Shelter also continues the band’s growing emphasis on vocals. When present in post-rock, vocals can be a bit too atmospheric and mumbly for my liking. Oh Hiroshima does occasionally write passages where Hemström’s voice unclearly contributes to sonic depth (“Servant of All,” “Meridian”). But for the most part, Dead Tree gives its vocals prominence without feeding into cliché rock-song structures. “Broken Sunlight,” for example, bookends a circuitous guitar melody, powered by a stop-start groove, with a robust, titular-line ‘chorus.’ On the more vulnerable side of the spectrum, “Angelos” comes closest to predictability, but the haunting, piano-led bridge that sprouts from the beautifully harmonized verse-chorus cycle is anything but. While not the norm on Dead Tree, these vocal-driven songs, hewing closer to traditional structures, become the glimmers that—oddly—keep the album fresh.

At 8 tracks totaling 47 minutes, And the Dead Tree Gives No Shelter coheres into a satisfying experience, with only a cracked image or two. “Servant of All” aptly introduces Oh Hiroshima’s arsenal, while “Meridian” emphasizes rhythm and “Angelos” spotlights melody. After this opening trio, “Skeleton Key” flirts with filler—while not a bad song, its mid-song jolt doesn’t develop into something terribly interesting. Fortunately, side B revamps with the ornate melancholy of “Tree of Life” and the straight-ahead drive of “Broken Sunlight.” “Ivory Town” is quite beautiful, though it doesn’t exactly stand on its own, feeling like a minimalist setup for the closer. Like a flock of Red Sparrowes, “Exit Cloud” escalates, overlaying strings and horns into a cinematic concoction, picking up the pace halfway before an intense conclusion. Perhaps the album’s strongest song, it’s a dynamite ending to Dead Tree.

Oh Hiroshima has certainly succeeded at producing an album that feels ‘meaningful.’ And the Dead Tree Gives No Shelter sounds beautiful, if perhaps humdrum, on a first listen or two. Repeat engagements, however, reveal compositional and instrumental depth, cementing the emotional staying power of its songs (with an exception or two). Son of Angry Metal Guy: if you know only a heap of breakneck metal, Dead Tree likely isn’t for you. If, however, you don’t mind post-ing your metal, or can get down with its gentler cousin, Dead Tree might supply the shantih you’ve been seeking.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Pelagic Records
Websites: Instagram | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: June 5th, 2026

It’s easy to take the Internet for granted, given how ubiquitous it is these days. A couple of decades ago, it would have been unthinkable for someone like me who lives in the United States to stumble upon music made by a group from Eigg. Hailing from this small Scottish island—with a population of only about 100—Joe Cormack and Pete Colquhoun formed Electric Sun Defence following the early dissolution of their former group, The Massacre Cave, after just one album that was released in 2020. Estuary represents the next step along this trail of spirited progressive/post-metal that these two bandmates began blazing years ago.

It turns out that Estuary is an apt metaphor for Electric Sun Defence’s music. Estuaries, formed when freshwater rivers mix with the salty ocean, account for some of the world’s most productive wildlife ecosystems. Similarly, Estuary inhabits the sweet spot between the melodicism of prog and the coarse textures of post-metal. Much like The Ocean and Void of Light, Electric Sun Defence is prone to change from tranquil to tempestuous at a moment’s notice. The flurries of activity are glued together with delicious, delicate post-rock segments in the vein of pg.lost or Red Sparowes. The balance between these competing interests can feel fragile at times, but they manage to coexist and enrich their musical environment together.

Estuary’s standout strength is the masterful buildup and discharge of tension. This is immediately clear as the title track begins, layering bass and horns atop cymbal taps and serene guitars, then eventually erupting into a furious post-metal wave. “Fountain of Blood” takes things further with harsh guitar riffs that also contain the perfect amount of groove. “The Master’s Garden” deftly winds between glassy post-rock and distorted chords, climaxing with an intricate guitar melody. Though the intensity waxes and wanes, there is a clear trend of increasing aggression as Estuary progresses, becoming more like a combination of Cult of Luna and Dvne for the final two tracks, “Phantom Limb Amputee” and “In Bestia.” During the latter, Pete Colquhoun really gets to let loose with forceful and frenetic rhythms behind the kit. Don’t let the monochromatic album art fool you; Electric Sun Defence paints with a wide array of aural hues.

The dynamic composition is good, but when paired with an intuitive flow, the experience borders on transcendent. Each track fluidly transitions to the next, and the fact that none of them exceeds 8 minutes helps to keep Estuary from becoming stale. This is a rare instance of the shorter interlude tracks serving a larger purpose, albeit in a subtle way. “Spiderweb” is pretty enough that I can look past its bothersome soundbites, and “Dysmorph” functions as a reprieve while setting the stage for the raging “Phantom Limb Amputee” that follows. The grouping of these tracks with the shoegaze elements in “Choke Leper” causes the momentum to sag a little, but not terribly so. Another minor weak point is that the vocals—especially the cleans—can sound muffled, but the strength of the instruments helps compensate.

Though I entered Estuary with no expectations, it turned out to be exactly what I was looking for at the time. It keeps the listener guessing from moment to moment with the continual assurance that they’ll love whatever comes next. Electric Sun Defence shows their versatility by wielding both emotive melody and crushing ferocity. Albums like this make me pause and appreciate the privilege we have to conveniently access great music from all over the world. Electric Sun Defence might be the best metal group in Eigg by default, but they can give others in larger regions a serious run for their money too.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Road To Masochist
Websites: electricsundefence.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/people/Electric-Sun-Defence
Releases Worldwide: May 8th, 2026

Red Sparowes - At The Soundless Dawn - 2005
#Music #AlbumSuggestions #NowPlaying #NowListening
#RedSparowes #AtTheSoundlessDawn

Pierwszym wydaniem #ARRM był split ze #StaraRzeka i #InnercityTrio (Ziołek / Jachna / Popowski). To wczesne nagranie (w składzie: Artur Ruminski, Maciej Śmigrodzki & Krzysiek Kurek, Grzegorz Zawadzki) było wydane w 2014 roku w #WoundedKnife i przypomina #Earth z czasów "Hex" i wczesną erę #RedSparowes.

🎶 https://arrm.bandcamp.com/album/split-w-stara-rzeka-innercity-trio

Zapraszamy serdecznie na koncert ARRM • Rites of Fall x Fugavit @ Chmury • Svmerki • 5.12.25 • https://hyperfollow.com/arrm5122025

#koncert #wydarzenie #muzyka #music #warszawa

Red Sparowes - Oh Lord, God Of Vengeance, Show Yourself! - 2006
#Music #AlbumSuggestions #NowPlaying #NowListening
#RedSparowes #OhLordGodOfVengeanceShowYourself

#nowplaying Red Sparowes - The Fear Is Excruciating But Therein Lies The Answer

One of the first albums I bought right after getting back into #vinyl

I'm still sad that after the next album they sorta disappeared. If anyone has recommendations for similar music in complexity (without getting too "prog" and noodly), I am all ears.

#redsparowes