Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine famously adheres to the theory that when a person is subjected to high volume noise for a long enough time, they enter a zen-like state. The harsh tones and oppressive volumes transform into an almost comforting embrace, like being covered in a blanket of snow after an avalanche.

Experimental Austin metallurgists Glassing are masters of this sort of alchemy, manipulating abrasive tones to create songs that are somehow staggeringly gorgeous. While I recoiled at my early, brief brushes with the band, I was encouraged to give Twin Dream a more earnest listen.

It became one of my favorite records.

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There’s no shortage of genre-blurring bands around these days—especially in the metal scene. Besides the now-ubiquitous blackgaze of Alcest and Deafheaven or the doomgaze/new-wave/post-rock of Holy Fawn*, there are legions of bands forging fresh takes on heavy music. Bands like Zeal & Ardor, Rolo Tomassi, or Mountaineer. But for the most part, I have the vocabulary for what they’re doing and where they’re coming from. They mix diverse ingredients, but the pieces are chopped largely enough that I can identify what’s floating around in the stew.

On the other hand, Twin Dream is puréed into a slurry fine enough that it’s impossible to suss out where one idea ends and another begins. It could be crudely called post metal, but that is a poor term to encompass what’s going on. There are spikes of black metal, billowing clouds of doomgaze, rivers of toxic sludge, gnashes of hardcore, glistening beams of post rock, and bursts of harsh noise. Its most blistering moments (the blast beats of “Absolute Virtue,” the atonal fury of “Doppler,” the thrashy riffs of “Among the Stars“) appropriate lush atmospheres to great effect. The hushed instrumental tracks (“Faint,” “Godless Night,” “Where Everything Is Still“) have a dark tinge belying their gorgeousness.

The most staggering moments though are where they play to the middle of their spectrum, bringing together the poles of their sound without compromising on them. Opener “Spire” blows the record open with a doomy post hardcore riff with black metal vocals before pulling back into a brooding post metal passage. The massive seven-minute “Burden” explodes with metal fury and noise rock dissonance before letting out a long breath of drone metal. “True North” is as loud and aggressive as anything else on here, but is undeniably anthemic in a life-affirming major key. Closer “At Long Last” follows its affirmation with soaring ambient guitars and clean vocals.

For my money though, the peak of the record is the title track. “Twin Dream” is positively staggering, opening with a subdued ambient verse with Dustin Coffman offering his first clean vocals of the record. Then halfway through the track, it ignites, the fire spreading until it ends with a volcanic eruption of noise metal as furious as anything on the disc.

I listen to a lot of music—I mean a lot of music. In fact, it’s basically my job now. But Twin Dream has grabbed me in a way that few records have. I’ve returned to it far more often than I have other new favorites. The only reason I haven’t already claimed it as my top Album of the Year already is that it came out last November (I still might though). It is a fiercely original record that reveals a new facet every time I listen to it—which is frequently.

*Incidentally, it was Holy Fawn bandleader Ryan Ostermann’s constant gushing about Glassing that convinced me to check them out