deathcrash – return

On their debut LP, deathcrash cut the ribbon on a concealed world of frayed tenderness. While ‘Return’ is faithful to a rock palette, the band’s stable patience nurtures a crystalline, spacious sound that shelters everything it touches. Throughout, starry washes of guitar crash down with thunderous emotion as the writing seeks to magnify splintered moments of understanding. In its sum, this record neither valorises nor humiliates darkness, but conveys that to be close with it is to exist honestly. Optimism will rarely cloak itself in such a way. The final line, ‘I’ll be hopeful, I’ll be caring, I will love you,’ unveils the blanketed sanguineness of ‘Return’. It is a special album.

27/30

A favourite: ‘Unwind’ / The Low Anthem’

‘Return’ is out now via @untitledrecs