Band:	Glassing
Album:	From The Other Side Of The Mirror
Style:	Post-Hardcore, Atmospheric black metal
Release date:	April 2024

01. Anything You Want
02. Nothing Touches You
03. Defacer
04. Sallow
05. Nominal Will
06. Ritualist
07. As My Heart Rots
08. Circle Down
09. The Kestrel Goes
10. Wake

From the other side of the mirror, Glassing look a touch lighter.

Glassing have been around for over a decade, but it was with 2021’s Twin Dream that they made some serious waves, with the end result that they have moved from Brutal Panda Records to Pelagic Records for their latest outing. As covered by Sahar when reviewing Twin Dream, Glassing bring together two styles in hardcore and black metal that have typically been used in tandem to vicious, savage effect (think Calligram or Hexis), yet in the hands of this band, despite moments of ugliness, the overall result is more delicate and beautiful. In truth, Glassing’s take on hardcore is arguably closer to post-hardcore or screamo, and like similar screamo-influenced acts such as Infant Island or Frail Body, their sound regularly exhibits elements of post-rock/metal and blackgaze; this is perhaps even more so the case on From The Other Side Of The Mirror.

That’s not to say that there’s a lack of intensity this time around, however; for all the tranquillity of the shimmering post-rock introduction to “Nothing Touches You”, there are subsequently a couple of outbursts of frenetic, chaotic aggression, while “Defacer” opens with a guitar tone and riff that almost spills over into death metal before transitioning into blasting blackened (post-)hardcore belligerence. The band’s post-metal inclinations (which they’re on the perfect label to express) also come through in brooding heaviness on the album’s most post-metallic tracks, “Ritualist” and “Circle Down”. Despite this, though, I feel that there is an overarching lightness to the instrumentation on From The Other Side Of The Mirror that dominates the album’s vibe, even in the regular presence of sharp, tremolo guitars, frenzied shrieked vocals, and hectic drumming, all of which can be heard on the brief, rapid “As My Heart Rots”.

What is it about the music that provides that levity, then? Well, in a couple of obvious cases (“Sallow” and “The Kestrel Goes”), it’s because the music is light; the former layers an ambient synth above an electro-beat that throbs almost imperceptibly beneath, while the latter is an extended segment of ambient post-rock in the vein of early This Will Destroy You. But for other tracks, it’s down to the melodic tinges to the chords and guitar leads, as well as the subtle use of hushed clean vocals, all of which can be heard on opener “Anything You Want” and the aforementioned “Ritualist”. Then you get onto songs such as “Nominal Will” and “Wake”, both of which sound eerily reminiscent of Deafheaven in their Ordinary Corrupt Human Love era, right down to Dustin Coffman’s George Clarke-esque shrieks.

From The Other Side Of The Mirror is still very reminiscent of its predecessor; of the two, I perhaps slightly prefer Twin Dream. As much as Glassing are broadly successful at whatever they put their mind to on this newest release, I can’t really pinpoint all that much on this album that really reaches out to me. I do like the Deafheaven-isms quite a bit, and the more post-metal-oriented songs mentioned earlier have quite gripping evolutions, particularly “Ritualist”, but outside of that, I’ve not found From The Other Side Of The Mirror to make a major impact on me. Still, those out there that do like to have a wide contrast in tones in their music, with the serene adjacent to the obscene, will find this record to be one worth exploring.