Let’s suppose Glassing was completely unknown to you until this 4th album release. In that case, you should know that the Austin, Texas trio fuses post-metal, noise rock and black metal uniquely, all to redefine the edges of extreme music. Glassing features the punchy bass lines and screams of frontman Dustin Coffman, the sharp riffing of Cory Brim and the punishing drums of newcomer Scott Osment. Here’s for the pedigree.
This band appeared on my radar only recently, helped by their recent signing to the prestigious Pelagic Records — a haven for avant-garde artists delivering top-tier refreshing releases. It’s precisely the trio’s wide sonic palette that won me over: “From The Other Side Of The Mirror” is a record that will reward you after careful repeated listens, so dense is it. In Dustin Coffman’s own words, it’s certainly the most technical record they’ve written, yet the most accessible. Balancing aerial passages and chaotic frenzy, blending intense shrieks and graceful whispers, always seeking melody in dissonance and brutality, Glassing’s music remains surgically precise — the work of true goldsmiths. Their intelligence lies in drawing on various sub-genres to multiply the emotional force of their message. Post-metal fragility, black metal ferocity, post-hardcore edge, shoegaze moodiness and doom nihilism all combine to fuel a savage catharsis where a feverish hope can be glimpsed in the torment.
This consistency is truly here to help achieve a purpose. Concept-wise, “From The Other Side Of The Mirror” deals with introspection through other people’s eyes. “The eyes of others are so many distorting mirrors that slowly kill,” said Simone Piuze: this quote aptly illustrates the album theme, as we are being confronted with other people’s gaze since birth, whether we like it or not. Yet humans need each other to understand who they are. The title album title speaks for itself: in the first place there is indeed an unfiltered perception, then like a negative, a more metaphysical, obscure and buried one.
This dichotomy lies in the songwriting and within the tracks themselves. Twin tracks respond to and oppose each other, reflecting and distorting each other. “Anything You Want” and “Nothing Touches You” oscillate between grace and fury, as Dustin Coffman melds acidic screamos and comforting clean vocals. The spine-chilling black metal undertones on “As My Heart Rots” and “Defacer” work together like no other: this raging suite is as ferocious as a radioactive hailstone washing your body bare.
In the face of such violent outbursts, instrumental interludes “Sallow” and “The Kestrel Goes” offer a welcome breathing space and allow us to slip into the brighter tracks. “Nominal Will” is a true ray of hope, and “Ritualist” a soothing instant of reflection and awareness, although we’re sailing in the deep, murky waters of doom. “Wake” ends the album in the most beautiful way possible: a genre-transcending maelstrom carried by a radiant melody, like a testimony to a serenity retrieved after (or despite) the tumult.
From chaos and dissonance, Glassing creates vulnerable beauty, leading to a form of plenitude where we can shelter despite the fury. Like a tear, an open wound, a scar that may never go away, but one we accept and carry on with. Insane and visceral, this album is salutary. Go for it, the appointment is free of charge.
Last modified: 10 June 2024
