Review: Gloe – Dead Wait

Style: mathgaze (this is what they very adamantly call themselves), progressive rock (clean vocals, some post-hardcore style screaming)
Recommended for fans of: Circa Survive, Minus the Bear, The Mars Volta, HRVRD
Review by: Chris
Country: Utah, United States
Release date: 17 January 2020

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This review was originally published in the January 2020 Part 2 issue of The Progressive Subway.]

When I saw this album on our review list I suddenly remembered it had been mentioned to me by someone close to me as “exactly your shit” a month ago and life had caused me to pass it by. I’m glad to report that my friend was correct and I am now regretting that 2 month period where I was not listening to this album. Simply put this album is what happens when you drench some mathy stylings in reverb a la -gaze genres, which is apt considering the band pushes themselves as a Mathgaze band.

“Dead Wait”(song) opens the album a bit slowly and I will admit this track did not immediately grab me, as it felt like a few other post bands I had used to listen to when I was younger. The guitars reminded me of something I might find in an Appleseed Cast song and the vocalist reminded me of the vocalist from HRVRD, which I had not listened to in years and gave me a nice nostalgic feeling. However, at about the 2:25 mark “Dead Wait” caught me with the cane hook and pulled me back in with a shuffling syncopated drum beat over the previous guitar part. I really feel the drums provide a lot of what is so great about this album. There are so many moments of almost Thomas Pridgen esque drum riffing that really are what caused me to feel so much The Mars Volta vibes in this album. Without some of these drums beats I feel some parts of the album might not succeed to the degree they do since the drums are really what are providing the new perspective and voice to these parts in my mind. 

That said, the guitars and basslines in this album are great though some fall a little flat for me and I find myself falling back onto just listening to the drums and head bobbing (I’m a drummer so it’s only to be expected). I feel sometimes the guitars are slightly treading ground that Circa Survive tilled and cultivated long ago, though there is much more gaze aspect here than they typically apply. 

The vocals are pretty good overall as well, I did have a strange tip-of-my-tongue moment for a while listening to this album, until I realized it really really reminded me of Brian Aubert from Silversun Pickups. I do feel they feel a bit samey for too many stretches in the record, though if it was done for overall atmosphere and feel for the album as a body of work I would let it slide. There are a few more staccato playful choruses and lines and those are the sections where I really find myself focusing on the vocals, and anytime the vocalist gave those Anthony Green style high fry vocals I was super into it.

I really really like this album and will be visiting it a lot more for a while as a nice addition to my “things that feel like they were made to be listened to by me” list. My main critiques are song length and how some sections drag on, I didn’t personally feel all the songs needed the amount of length they had, and I would love in future endeavors to hear the guitars break more new ground in the way I feel the drums really really did for this style of music.

Recommended tracks: Casualty Officer, So Without, (Aichmåloto) Asterias
You may also like: Juggernaut, Future Corpse, The Mask of the Phantasm
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | RYM page

Label: Independent

Gloe is:
– Ian Cooper (vocals, guitars)
– Dan Actor (guitars)
– Chris Jensen (bass)
– Brian Fell (drums, programming)