Style: post-metal, doom metal, sludge metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Neurosis, YOB, Amenra
Country: Netherlands
Release date: 30 January 2026

---

As we in America gear up for the Super Bowl, I’m reminded of the baffling breadth of music. In a week or so, Bad Bunny will regale us with a halftime show of short, upbeat songs—or a mishmash of fragments—manufactured to amp up the average member of a diverse audience north of 100 million. Repetitive, danceable rhythms and Spanish lyrics about the relatable aspects of love will be delivered in a polished reggaeton style. Meanwhile, I’m over here trudging my way through an hour of despair-ridden, long-form sludge via Gavran’s The One Who Propels. It’s almost inconceivable that both artists work in the same medium: music. 

Hailing from the Netherlands, Gavran deal in sludgy post-metal, drawing heavily from the sullen traits of doom and, at times, the airiness of shoegaze and post-rock. The One Who Propels arrives after guitarist Freek van Rooyen faced serious illness and a long, accompanying period of uncertainty. Appropriately, the album’s five lengthy tracks aim to convey unmitigated and resonant feelings of despair, doubt, desire, grief, pain, and anger—where not hope, but necessity is the driving force required to push through. Music fit for a Super Bowl halftime show this is not.

To capture the emotional depth The One Who Propels seeks, production is paramount—and Gavran excel on this front. The guitars sound massive, giving a strong effect to the visceral, chest-filling riffs that slowly push the tracks forward. In measured contrast, the drums carry a slightly brighter punch that cuts through the dense guitars and keeps momentum. The lighter bridges provide juxtaposition without an inapposite, artificial shimmer, and textural elements like synths accent the music but don’t overwhelm. When the bass is given space to assert itself, its tone is thick and compelling. The band clearly realize that for slow-moving, sonically dense works like this one, the experience hinges as much on how the music sounds as on what’s being played. 

As for the compositions themselves, they’re about what you’d expect of near-monolithic post-metal. Crushing guitars repeat riffs and crawl patiently toward new motifs as atmosphere builds, until an inevitable, softer bridge takes things down a notch. Tension is then reconstructed as the sound rises again, before a cathartic ending washes over the listener. Rinse and repeat a few times, and you’ve got yourself an album. Fortunately, Gavran’s riffs are strong, utilizing two intertwined guitars for a fuller feel and a keen sense of melody that imbues them with emotion. The bridges, too, are well put together, featuring a variety of moody chords and gloomy melodies, subtle synths, impactful bass accents, and floating tremolo-picked lines. The tracks tend to close in a big finale, sometimes with warmer tones and even a glimmer of positivity.  

Serving as both a strength and a weakness is that The One Who Propels is a rather homogenous release. Indeed, the descriptions above apply almost equally to any of the five tracks, hence the lack of specific examples—once you’ve heard one composition, you’ll have a good idea of how the rest will go. This isn’t to say the songs mirror each other, just that their frameworks and atmospheres are quite similar in character. The relative uniformity might make staying engaged tough, but it certainly conveys the inescapable, persistent emotional turmoil the album aims for. If there is a particularly distinctive passage, however, it’s the prolonged, beautiful, and nearly triumphant post-rock outro of album closer “Plutaju.” The vocals, on the other hand, are plainly a weak point. Although I appreciate the fittingly glum delivery, the cleanly sung portions consistently ring flat in tone. Meanwhile, the chosen complementary vocal style is a banshee-like screech, which might have worked if used sparsely to emphasize the most intense points, but instead it fills much of the record. These high-pitched howls, frankly, sound a little too much like a novelty to be used so consistently and still provide the poignant resonance they attempt. 

On the whole, though, Gavran have successfully realized their vision of a densely despairing album. The One Who Propels is unabashedly emotional, at times moving and at others crushing—and sometimes both simultaneously. The occasional glint of sonic optimism manifests to keep us pushing forward, and the album ends on a warmer note, making the hour-long trudge feel like it led to a worthwhile destination. Simply put, The One Who Propels is an exhausting listen, but a meaningful one. And after taking several trips through it while writing this review, I’m almost craving the shallow musical entertainment of this year’s halftime show.

---

Recommended track: Plutaju
You may also like: Obscure Sphinx, BÅKÜ, Zatokrev
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: dunk!records

Gavran is:
– Jamie Kobić (vocals, guitars)
– Freek van Rooyen (guitars)
– Tinus Kardolus (bass, synth, piano)
– Roy Zwinkels (drums)
With guests:
– Marius Prins (guitars, vocals)
– Niels Koster (vocals)