The list of heavy bands doing anything more exciting than Glassing is a short one. Since their 2017 debut Light and Death, they have been melding influences of post rock, screamo, shoegaze, harsh noise, sludge metal, post-hardcore, and kvlt black metal with a sense of drama and contrast that so many strive for but few achieve. They’ve been one of the best kept secrets in metal for years, churning out record after record of their signature molten tones.

I had already considered them to have reached their pinnacle  on 2021’s Twin Dream, but last year’s From the Other Side of the Mirror makes it feel like they were only about halfway up. And man, is the view great from up here.

Their mercurial shifts between dissonant heaviness to gorgeous ambience are more deft than ever, and they continue to uncover more ground between the two extremes. There are far more clean vocal parts, but that doesn’t make the record any less heavy. Instead, it opens up a new dimension to their already enormous sound. If Glassing keeps this up, they’re not going to be a secret for much longer—if there’s any justice in the world anyway.