Style: Post-black metal, shoegaze, indie rock (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Deafheaven, Alcest, Numenorean, Astronoid
Country: Denmark
Release date: 30 January 2026

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Some music glows. Other music wounds. My favorite records—especially in heavy music—manage to do both in one spin. They’re both luminous and dour, cathartic and brutal, but without being gimmicky or punishing. Those contrasts are what draw me to post-black metal in particular: a style capable of holding grief and hope in the same breath, of turning desolation and distortion into release rather than mere cacophony. When those elements all come together the music doesn’t just reflect emotion, it helps process feelings I otherwise have difficulty working through or articulating. Wow, another emotionally stunted millennial introvert. How original.

That need for music that glows and cuts is what led me to Dreamcrush, the third full-length from Danish aethergazers Møl. Their 2018 debut Jord followed the initial blackgaze wave of Deafheaven, Alcest, et al. in the early ‘10s, and will be found on many a fan-made list cataloging genre staples (including of yours truly). Dreamcrush, though, is an evolution of Møl’s take on the style. The album is confident and assured in its identity, even as it adds new tools into the band’s emotional first-aid kit. That confidence is compelling, though not always in ways I find most affecting.

Where existing fans will immediately notice this is in the vocals. A much greater emphasis is placed on cleans this go around. Not content with being occasionally peppered into a handful of songs, they’re equally portioned out with the harshes throughout the album. While the shift will surely ruffle a few metal purists (who probably weren’t pressing play on Møl anyways), the clean vocals are quite effective, and even catchy, at times. “A Former Blueprint” is a favorite; its darkwave-adjacent intro and verse highlight Kim Song Sternkopf’s melodic delivery before transitioning into a pre-chorus with his trademark snarl. Lead single “Garland” is another standout, as I’ve caught myself gazing at my shoes more than a few times while listening to its plaintive verse.

No need for the die-hards to worry, though, as Møl staples haven’t disappeared on Dreamcrush. Sternkopf’s harsh, high shrieks are more powerful than ever. They are mostly showcased in the choruses of the album, such as in “Young” or “Crush,” where they reach new eardrum-shattering peaks. He even teases some gobliny frys in “Hud,” and near-gutturals in “A Former Blueprint” and “Young.” While much of the album comes across as simplified, the varying vocal textures push back against that intrusive thought.

Post-black metal (post-anything metal, really) has always flirted with indie rock character, and Møl really lean into that tendency on Dreamcrush. To a greater degree than even the newfound clean vocal emphasis, that indie ethos is most notable in the writing and production of the guitars: reverbing the cleans to high heaven (“Hud,” “Dissonance”), and simple, octave-driven distorted chords strummed in mono rhythm (“Young,” “Crush”). The result is an eclectic, glassy sound—part blackgaze shimmer, part indie melancholy—that places less focus on riffs and more attention on chord changes. A good riff, unfortunately, is where I am a curmudgeony metal purist. And while riffs aren’t gone, chord progression-based songwriting rules the day here. “Små Forlis” is the most stark example, chock-full of spry, indie-rock energy, with nary a riff (as I would define it) in sight. Thankfully, a trace of ‘80s scratch scrapes its way through into the songs, which is especially notable in the guitar solos and lead lines, with “Favour” having a standout ripper towards its ending.

The chords and cleans underlining carries other stylistic consequences. The drum work, naturally, is more restrained than on Møl’s previous work. Blast beats, flashy fills, and double bass haven’t been abandoned, but they’re far less prominent on Dreamcrush. Instead, straightforward rock beats dominate, pairing with the album’s even split between clean and harsh vocals and its frequent clean-to-distorted guitar switches. Together, those choices underline a clearly defined verse-chorus-verse structure across nearly every track. That framework may have always existed in Møl’s songwriting, but it’s never been this exposed. With all but one song landing in the three to four minute range, the material feels deliberately streamlined. Some would consider such efficiency trimming the fat, but with songs this length and rigidly structured, that makes for ideas that don’t get to fully develop—dear god, how I wanted to sit in that moody bridge on “Mimic” for a minute longer—or take new directions.

Evolution and change are things I like seeing and hearing in music—across a song, an album, or a discography. But straightforwardness and simplicity? Not at the expense of risk or experimentation. Dreamcrush takes Møl in a new direction, but also sands things down, favoring clarity and clean emotional signposting over volatility and grit. Everything here is well-composed and tastefully executed, but that comes at the cost of the intentional discomfort felt in many of my post-black favorites. I’m left with something that glows, but doesn’t quite wound; an album that dreams, but doesn’t quite crush.

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Recommended tracks: Mimic, A Former Blueprint, Garland
You may also like: Genune, Zéro Absolu, Ultar, Together to the Stars
Final verdict: 6/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Nuclear Blast Records

Møl is:
– Nicolai Busse (guitar)
– Holger Frost (bass, guitar)
– Ken Lund Klejs (drums)
– Kim Song Sternkopf (vocals)
– Sigurd Kehlet (guitar)