GLACIER is a five-piece instrumental band based in Boston, MA whose music fully embodies their name: a crushingly loud and unrelenting force. From their EPK, the release of “A Distant, Violent Shudder” is equal parts sprawling and claustrophobic, and showcases their uncanny ability to highlight a harsh beauty amongst the urgency and despair found within the shared experience of wide-scale traumatic events. This is GLACIER at their most refined.” The album has five songs.

“Grief Rolled in Like a Storm” is first. It carries a heavy burden with it, both musically and emotionally. Without vocals, I have always maintained that the listener must tune in more carefully, because your focus is taken off the lyrics. There are moments of pure crushing sounds in the song, but it also slows more quiet and mysterious sounds. “The Old timers said they’d never seen nothin’ like that” begins with a slower, more pensive pace and sound. It starts a calculated climb until the peak is reached, and stamped with a low, weighted riff that is thick with Doom Metal sounds. With each new note comes a more crushing punishment. “Distant/Violent” begins with just a few guitar notes here and there, and a good deal of tension building. The fuzz of the guitars begins to make itself known, as does the heavy bass and drums, until a crescendo is reached. From there, the song starts to almost fall apart, but the band is able to deftly hold things together.

“sometimes it would be a week before we could see the sun” features spoken words that are declarative, like someone is just telling a story matter-of-factly, and seems unfazed that he hasn’t seen the sun in a week. You begin to wonder, what kind of people are they? “Sand Bitten Lungs” closes the album with a firm and oppressive sound, that morphs into a chaotic sound. The dust settles, and it’s clearer once again, and then the crushing sound returns. This type of yin and yang occurs throughout the album, and enables the listener to enjoy the firmer elements as much as the more delicate ones. It’s the deep contrast on the album that makes it as good as it is. Oppressive moments and tempered with lighter ones and the two hang in a balance that is very difficult to disrupt.