The ongoing criticism of today’s modern heavy-gazers is that they lack the emotional depth of the bands from ‘90s alternative rock lore which they cull influence from. Soul Blind’s debut full length, Feel It All Around, challenges that notion with contemporary measure and can’t resonate any harder with matters digging far beneath the surface. The listen of 11 tracks is one of the loudest pieces of hardcore-adjacent art rumbling out of our modern pandemic era, with the Hudson Valley five-piece reaching into the despair of their already-downtrodden surroundings and trying to find a way out of it into a world where mental reckoning can quiet itself. Recorded alongside the best person for the job, Will Yip, Feel It All Around careens through big, grungy hooks and swirling pedal effects built for sky-wide consumption while vocalist Cen mediates the discomfort of strange times on the self and everyone around him. Call it (heavy)gazing into the abyss, but in this case, very much doing the most to not let the abyss gaze back at you…

Highlights: “Seventh Hell”, “Tribe”, “Sparkle”

Soul Blind’s Feel It All Around is available now on Other People Records.

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