Album Review: Slow Crush - Thirst
Reviewed by Oli Gonzalez
There’s something in the water in Belgium, a nation that has produced numerous quality post metal bands ranging from Wiegedood to Brutus, and Hippotraktor to the mighty Amenra! As such, it may be easy for a band like Slow Crush to get lost in the shuffle. Though the Belgian quartet have found a niche with what has been described as a blackened shoegaze style of metal, expertly blending more traditional metal elements with psychedelic rock. My personal introduction to the band came in late 2021, coinciding with the band’s release of “Hush”. Since then, the band have been busy appearing on festival line ups all across Europe, as well touring across the continent and further afield to the USA, supporting the likes of Cult Of Luna and GGGOLDDD in the process. Almost exactly four years after “Hush”, the band are on the eve of releasing their next album via Pure Noise Records, “Thirst”. How will this stack up compared to older material? Only one way to find out…
The album begins with the title track ‘Thirst’. Immediately, the production values have seen a major upgrade since their previous releases! Here, everything sounds crisp, sharp, more full and vibrant. Yet there’s still just enough grit there to make this feel not overly polished but feeling organic and authentic. The band reported spending considerable time with producer Lewis Johns, having worked with the likes of Rollo Tommasi, and Svalbard. All this extra effort has paid off, especially in some of those huge immersive and atmospheric soundscapes in both ‘Bloodmoon’ and ‘While You Dream Vividly’. Whilst they had utilised similar elements in previous releases, it’s only really after having worked with Johns that they’ve been able to make this step up in production quality and achieve this far superior end product.
This extra studio work is evident in the much sharper and heavier guitars where the distortion is dialled in just enough to make your head involuntarily rock back and forth without overpowering the more sensitive and melodic elements in the mix. Check out ‘Covet’ and the tale end of ‘Leap’ for some jaw dropping guitar tones!
Vocally, Isa Halliday is once again the star of the show and a crucial cog in Slow Crush’s overall sound. Soothing, gentle and dripping with human sentiment, ‘Haven’ is perhaps the best track to illustrate her undeniable talent, where the guitars and other instruments are stripped back and her unique voice is able to receive all the attention it deserves. Although the lyrics themselves aren’t always clearly enunciated, there’s a unique tranquil and soothing quality to her voice which acts almost like a fifth instrument, alongside the 2 guitars, bass, and drums. This juxtaposes wonderfully against the aforementioned roughly distorted guitars, all of which form Slow Crush’s highly individual sound.
It's difficult to pick out one stand out song in the album (though you’ll probably find yourself humming along to the infectious and instantly memorable melody of ‘Hollow’, just like I did). Instead, it’s one to be enjoyed in it’s entirety and to just allow that blackened shoegaze goodness to wash over you.
Overall, “Thirst” represents an exciting new chapter for Slow Crush, a band who are constantly evolving and committed to self-improvement. They’ve clearly found a niche and unique sound. Now it’s time to get more ears on this and for their gift to be shared with the world.
