When the women of Blackwater Holylight left their hometown of Portland OR three years ago, their mission was to escape the gloom of the Pacific Northwest and the placating comfort of familiarity. Aiming for the sunnier climes of LA, the band found themselves not only in a warmer environment, but in a blank slate landscape—one without jobs, longtime friend groups, and the easy retreat of old habits. And it was here, unencumbered by the contentment of security, that Blackwater Holylight began diligently working on their fourth full-length album, Not Here Not Gone.
Emerging in 2025 from Liverpool, United Kingdom, Newhvn blends rock, alternative rock and grunge into a genre-defying sound. From the remains of the post-rock instrumental band A Burial at Sea, the project new hvn has surfaced, blending together their post-rock roots with their shoegaze and post-hardcore influences.
Support: Divided is a Belgian band that brings a refreshing combination of sludgy riffs, hardcore grooves, a postmetalish shoegaze vibe and cutting vocals. Anyway, as long as it feels authentic to the band.
supported by Plattenkiste
Blackwater Holylight
As with their previous work, Not Here Not Gone explores the duality of light and dark— menacing riffs provide the bedrock to beguiling melodies; dense walls of shoegaze guitars pair with lighter-than-air synths; and heavy subject matter is delivered by siren song vocals. Across their work, the listener gets a sense of empowerment at one turn, vulnerability the next. As drummer Eliese Dorsay describes it, “some songs we’re the predator, and some songs we’re the prey.” The juxtaposition of confidence and uncertainty is never in as such stark relief as when one makes a life changing decision, which may explain how the band’s relocation intensified their study in contrasts to intoxicating new heights on Not Here Not Gone.
The title is the perfect description of the band’s adjustment. “It’s one foot in, one foot out,” vocalist and guitarist/bassist Sunny Faris explains. “It’s about how you can lose people in your life but still have their presence and energy around you.” And indeed, listening to Not Here Not Gone, you get the distinct sense that Blackwater Holylight dragged some of the Northwest gloom down into Southern California. The opening chords of “How Will You Feel” are drenched in the muddy weight of perpetually overcast skies. But a Jacob’s Ladder of light shines through the scuzzy guitars in the form of Faris’ lilting vocals and Sarah McKenna’s blissed-out ambient synth work, guiding the listener out of the mire and into the garden.
Even in their heaviest moments, like the sludgy psychedelia of “Bodies” and “Spades,” Blackwater Holylight masterfully sculpt the thunder and grime into something that feels transcendental. Lead single “Heavy, Why?” is perhaps the apex of the band’s masterful duality and an appropriately titled examination of the ensemble’s methods. Mikayla Mayhew’s low, dirge-like riff and Dorsay’s propulsive drums could easily find a home in the catalog of an amp-worshipping Roadburn act, but Faris’ fragile vocals transform the composition into a question, a pointed and probing examination that uses beauty and grace to offset the threatening instrumentation.
A Burial At Sea // Newhvn
Having toured the world and released two albums as their former project A Burial at Sea, new hvn have had years of experience on the road, building fanbases up around Ireland, UK, Europe and Asia and have supported bands such as And So I Watch You From Afar, The Ocean, This Will Destroy You. They’ve also made appearances at festivals like ArcTanGent (UK), Post in Paris (FR), Bergmal (SW), and Dunk (BE). Wanting to break away from their post-rock sound, the remains of A Burial at Sea took themselves to Black Bay Studios on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland and new hvn was born. Pulling influences from Pinegrove and Cloakroom and combined it with their post-rock background a collection of 10 songs were formed, to be released in 2026.
- Bandcamp - A Burial At Sea
- Instagram - A Burial At Sea
- Spotify - A Burial At Sea
- Facebook - A Burial At Sea
- YouTube - A Burial At Sea
Divided
With only one album (‘Light Will Shine’, 2024) and one EP (‘Riser’, 2022) to their name, the band already toured across Europe and played with bands like Brutus, LLNN or Wiegedood. Their strong live performance leaves an impression each time, leaving the audience beaten to a pulp. Furthermore, the release of ‘Light Will Shine’ received extremely positive reviews in magazines like Metal Hammer (UK) and New Noise (US). With their still youthful age and abundance of ideas, they are far from thinking of stopping, but we still recommend checking them out as soon as possible. You never know where the world will be in 10 years... arely recovered from this hectic period, the band began to focus on writing their first full-length album. So, after a year of writing, rehearsing and recording, Divided is ready for you to meet ‘Light Will Shine’, the first full length release from these Belgian youngsters. Adding humanness and eeriness into their mix of postmetal, shoegaze and hardcore, ‘Light Will Shine’ turned out to be a dark and filthy sounding record that hits you in the chest from the start. The band worked together with Gilles Demolder (Siem Reap, Wiegedood, Oathbreaker) and mixing engineer Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Oathbreaker, Gouge Away, …) to create the natural yet vicious sounding album they wanted to make.
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