Style: Post-metal, doom metal, progressive metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: The Ocean, Swallow the Sun, Katatonia
Country: Brazil
Release date: 19 June 2026

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The relationship between genre and theme is a surprisingly robust one. If I name a genre, you’re probably going to have some fairly accurate assumptions about the sort of topics that a given band playing that genre will explore. Death metal, for example, often leans on horror or sci-fi imagery, and at its most extreme gets into uncomfortable body horror and gory murder stuff. Goth rock gives voice to the indecent horniness of the chronically undersexed, while goth metal embodies the existential melancholy of the post-coitally unfulfilled. Nu metal is about being mad at your parents. House music is a manifestation of a desire for stimulants. Country is about owning a truck, and wishing certain folk couldn’t vote. I could do this all day, but we’ve got a review to get to! My point is, when I say ‘post-metal’ you probably expect philosophical musings about the self explored through earth sciences metaphors. 

But you’d be wrong! On Nothing Left to Deconstruct, Loneshore craft a concept album about the Great Molasses Flood of 1919, in which a storage tank containing 2.3 million US gallons of molasses burst resulting in a wave of molasses smothering the Boston harbour, killing 21 people and injuring 150!¹ …Nah, I’m kidding, it’s more nature-of-the-self-based musings through a geographic lens again. Eight years after their debut, the Brazilian group return with a record that sits somewhere between the compositional trappings of post-metal, the intensity of melodic death metal, and the melancholic drudgery of doom. The result is a cocktail of The Ocean, early Katatonia, and Swallow the Sun with a somewhat late nineties gloss on their modern post-metal core. 

Loneshore’s use of clean vocal harmonies throughout the album make for a melancholic focus which provides some standout moments, particularly the rhythmic backing chants on “Of Lost Waters” that accompany Luiz Felipe Netto’s increasingly pushed-back crooning. His harshes have a blackened gnash to them that’s functional but can come across a little forced at times. There’s enough versatility in these vocal styles to keep the listener interested. Instrumentally, post-metal build-ups and doomy tempos largely define Nothing Left to Deconstruct, but there are some curveballs in the mix such as “To Stride the Black Earth” which instantly stands out as the paciest track, mixing up growls and clean harmonies, rooted around a pensive lead guitar motif that builds a sense of urgency. Closer “With Nothing We Part”, meanwhile, opens in a more stripped back pure post-rock style akin to Mogwai before finding its way back to the metal. However, much of Nothing Left to Deconstruct sounds like doomy post-metal distillate, failing to distinguish itself beyond being a merely good entry into the genre. 

And while ‘merely good’ might sound like damning with faint praise, Loneshore prove an enjoyable listen even if they don’t always wow you. Tracks like “Parhelion” and “Birth of a Mountain” play with some 5/4, 6/4, and 7/4 time signatures which wrongfoot the listener rather satisfyingly. Netto’s vocal performance is consistently Loneshore’s most engaging aspect, and drummer Pedro Mercier delivers some tasty kitwork, with “To Stride the Black Earth” showcasing his effortlessly clean style. 

Where Loneshore falter is primarily in the production, which weakens the record somewhat. Tracks like “Straylight” demonstrate an odd airlessness to an album that should be eminently atmospheric, and that lack of ambience—a bed for the instruments to lie in which often clothes post-metal—is notable. The lack of a strong low end also impacts the band’s ability to bite; riffs that should be seismically heavy merely trudge around. Nothing Left to Deconstruct is an overall solid work, but it struggles to transcend the confines of the studio and attain the cinematic heft that it sorely needs. 

Post-metal rewards patience, and Loneshore are no exception. Nothing Left to Deconstruct reveals its best side slowly, but no amount of patience on the listener’s part will see a masterpiece unfurl. Tighter composition and production, as well as a willingness to get more creative than their peers, will yield dividends for the Brazilian band. If you take something apart you get to see how it works and understand it more fully, so perhaps there are a few things left that Loneshore could deconstruct—just give the Great Molasses Flood a think, lads.

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Recommended tracks: To Stride the Black Earth, Birth of a Mountain, Of Lost Waters
You may also like: Psychonaut, Seyr, M​ú​r
Final verdict: 6/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Willowtip Records

Loneshore is:
– Bruno Farinazzo (guitars)
– Luan Moura (bass)
– Luiz Felipe Netto (vocals, guitars, keyboards)
– Pedro Mercier (drums)
– Renan Rubim (guitars, keyboards)

1. If you want to learn more about the Great Molasses Flood, go listen to the Protest the Hero song “All Hands” from Palimpsest which is about the disaster and written from the perspective of a victim. ↩︎