“Swarming inside it starts to breathe.“
The waves of grunegaze bands have only grown stronger since Soul Blind released their debut full-length, Feel It All Around, in 2022. The likes of Bleed have showcased the strengths of the genre, fusing riffs that glisten with a nu-metal-esque force and vocals that soar through the track. Yet the flip side is, for every Bleed, there will be a Split Chain that show how lethargic the genre can be without that extra spark. Early singles from Soul Blind‘s sophomore effort, like “Dyno” and “Mistakes to Wonder“, showed that Soul Blind hadn’t fallen into that lethargic trap, and on Red Sky Mourning, they have certainly avoided that sophomore slump.
The swagger that Red Sky Mourning opens with on “Business or Pleasure” blows open the record; Cen delivers their vocals with an imposing manner akin to Brent Smith. At first, this might seem to be an obtuse comparison, as the lungs on the chorus lift and open up the track like Shinedown‘s early work. Throughout Red Sky Mourning, this is prevalent on the harsher cuts on “Billy“ and “New York Smoke“, where Cen leans into a harsher and more forceful style, as well as the softer sung moments on “Thru The Haze“. The frontman guides the record and gives it an authenticity with their candid vocals.
All the hallmarks from Feel It All Around are here too: punchy bass, guitar riffs that twang, and a production that makes each aspect cut through without taking anything away from the vocals or drums, with Jon Markson and Adam Cichocki doing a grand job here. The way Soul Blind weave and move through genres is of note too, with the aforementioned opener diving into the alternative sounds of the 2000s with force. Later cuts, “For Real” and “New York Smoke“, galvanise that nu-core influence akin to what Black Coast have done to create tracks that could be placed over a video package of a Wrestlemania headliner back in the day.
There are cuts such as “Thru The Haze” and “Red Sky Mourning” which share that grunegaze sound of many of their counterparts. The former feels close to what Oversize produced on their recent album Vital Signs. The reverbed and echoed vocals take over on the closer “Closer To You“, which oozes that hazy and dreamy nature of what Moodring produced on Stargazer. While on paper all this might sound ever so slightly pastiche, and perhaps it is, the way Soul Blind bring all these influences and sounds together on Red Sky Mourning makes a listen that doesn’t tire itself out on one sound.
Red Sky Mourning is a continued evolution of Soul Blind‘s sound, and they do continue to impress, just as they did on Feel It All Around. Grittier and bigger cuts such as on “Business or Pleasure” and “New York Smoke” set it apart from its predecessor, while keeping the ‘gaze musings that many have come to bask in on the likes of “Thru The Haze“. Soul Blind don’t evolve out of the sounds of their influences, but they don’t need to, when they can produce a record in Red Sky Mourning that delivers on that ever-so-sweet nostalgic sound.
7.5/10
Red Sky Mourning releases October 10 via Closed Casket Activities, and can be pre-ordered here.