In Grief or in Hope by BIG|BRAVE

For fans of Divide and Dissolve, Sunn O))), Boris, experimental rock with a touch of neofolk influence, and the appreciation for life which only comes with intense mourning, In Grief or in Hope by BIG|BRAVE uses drone metal to come to terms with human fragility, folding the human voice into environments gargantuan, overpowering, and mysterious. Imposing walls of distorted guitars dominate the aesthetics of the album, at times blending seamlessly or giving way entirely to purely abstract digital noise, with glacial chord progressions always preventing us from reaching a fully stagnant conclusion. Instead, unexpectedly clean vocals tread water on these massive noisy waves, wailing out in simultaneous celebration and pain as our lives ride the razor thin edge of bodily disaster. No matter what measures we take, no matter how well we insulate ourselves, no matter how stoically we react, there’s no full mitigation of catastrophe and its associated traumatic losses, so we’re left with no choice but to rejoice for every moment we’re given on this side of that bottomless pit.