Nine Circles

For many years, I had heard about Glassing, but never had the chance to fully dive in. From my limited knowledge, they are a band rooted in harsh noise, a genre I did not like and avoided at all costs. However, over the years, the band evolved, placing their focus into post-hardcore and I felt the need to know more. Now, with their fourth full-length album, From the Other Side of the Mirror, it’s time to see what the fuss is all about.

When “Anything You Want” first started, I thought I was going to get a hard-hitting, high-intensity track that was going to melt my face off. Instead, it’s a preamble for what’s to come: its soft tones and overt tranquil atmosphere feels more at home within the realms of atmospheric black metal than post-hardcore. While the vocals start off harsh in the beginning – and act as a set piece whenever they show up again – it’s the soft vocals that lull you into warmth, letting down your guard. “Anything You Want” is not a track that pulls any surprises while you listen; it just wants the listener to get used to what’s happening before other elements come in. Both this track and “Nothing Touches You” tie into your sense of security: harsh vocals are used, the music can become chaotic at times, but it feels like it washes all over you. Then, you get “Defacer,” a track that starts with the fast-paced, dissonant drums that echo sludge, and that’s when you realize that the bomb has gone off. Sure, the previous tracks have slow starts, but are still dissonant enough that they pique your interest. “Defacer,” on the other hand, picks up on both tempo and instrumentation especially in the drum section. Those hard hits, along with the chaotic guitars only add to the track’s frenetic atmosphere, only for it to end too quickly before slipping back into its low intensity state.

However, despite the overt tranquility and tendency to shift into “softer” tones, From the Other Side of the Mirror is not a soft album. It does tend to place more emphasis on its atmosphere and how its instruments bounce off each other, but the music is still heavy, dynamic, and incredibly emotional. It’s also incredibly layered, creating this sinewy sonic texture. There may be only three instruments at the heart of the record, but it’s evident that Glassing knows what they are working with and are more than capable of creating music that breathes with life. For example, “Ritualist,” one of the high-intensity points on the album, oozes introspection with a side of frenzy filling every space with sound. This is the most blackened sludge Glassing has offered up until this point, and they allow themselves to drag, allowing the sound’s tempo to carry them to the end. This immediately picks up with “As My Heart Rots,” a track that emphasizes dissonance and still manages to fill the space with as much sonic entropy as it can. Its inherent chaotic nature only adds to the music’s emotional appeal, becoming cathartic to the listener.

After multiple listens, I noticed something interesting about the songs’ relationship with and within each other. In a sense, From the Other Side of the Mirror is an album that defies expectations, becoming more and more mercurial with each listen. Every time I pick up this album, I find something that makes me take notice of missing sounds I didn’t catch the last time, and it comes from the sense that you are constructing your own interpretations regarding each track and how they play against each other and with each other. Fittingly, there are 10 tracks on the record, creating five pairs of songs that showcase a different aspect that plays with one another, but also bleeds into the other pairs. What you get is an exploration of how each track serves to elevate each other, despite the tonal disparity across each track.

All in all, From the Other Side of the Mirror is a record that hits hard while showcasing a textured, dynamic sound that permeates throughout its 41-minute runtime. I can see most of these tracks being played loudly in a live setting, where we, as the listeners, are forced to come to terms with how Glassing has created music that defies both genre conventions and personal expectations. Glassing has created overt duality with this record, and I cannot wait to see how it eventually bleeds into future albums.

— Hera

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From the Other Side of the Mirror is available now on Pelagic Records. For more information on Glassing, visit their official Facebook and Instagram pages.