Review: Hiroe ‘Wield’
Relative newcomers to the instrumental post-rock scene, Philadelphia based quintet Hiroe (pronounced Hero-way) have taken form from the ashes of older projects like Japanese Sunday and Carved Up tasting minor acclaim in the process. Formed initially by guitarist and songwriter Eric Kusanagi towards the end of 2020, the band wasted little time in releasing their debut EP Wrought in 2022.
Produced, mixed, and mastered by a trio of names associated with heavyweight post-rock icons like Russian Circles, Isis, Spotlights, and Caspian, the band set out to make an impact with their dexterous, three-pronged guitar attack. Their strong songwriting drew inspiration from the heart-wrenching, emotional soundscapes crafted by the likes of Mogwai, Deftones, Cult of Luna, and Radiohead.
Combining the skills of Kusanagi, alongside fellow six-stringers Jill Paslier (who moved from bass to guitar for the album) and newcomer Brian Kong, Hiroe create a rich sonic architecture of textures and dense layers over the powerful rhythm section and vibrant drumming of joining members Jon Seileron bass and Dan Sagherian.
Wield, their full-length debut for Berlin’s Pelagic Records, is a mix of surprisingly infectious and complex sounds that manage to combine feelings of joyful, effervescent melodies and powerful post-rock that can stray into harder, almost math-rock territory. The band wanted to display a larger musical range on this release and bolstered their sound with synth, piano, and additional instrumentation that enhanced the density of the sound. With flourishes of light and shade, their majestic music has seen them dubbed in some quarters as the new darlings of the American post-rock underground.
The atmospheric, thrumming drone of The Calm brings the album into soft focus, like a less stark version of latter-day Yawning Man, the sparkling guitar notes and crisp drumming of Sagherian providing textured and contrasting sounds as the indie shoegaze melodies trip as light as air.
Wonderfully evocative in the spreading sense of bright euphoria, the passage moves with dainty shifts, warm and inviting, until there is a growing sense of discordancy and pulses that serve almost like an alarm call at the end.
everything on the album shines with clarity, highlighting their skills and chemistry…
Tides crashes in with the drama that replicates the majesty of smashing waves on a shoreline. The huge, ringing, almost doom-like notes wash over you, and the riffs stab, swooping and diving whilst the lead adds layers, fathoms deep, to the rich, swirling grandeur of the music. When they slow to a more mellow introspection, it is like the soundtrack to an underwater documentary that captures the serenity and danger of the alien environment with trilling arpeggios juxtaposing against the resonant thump of the rhythm section.
The manic cycling melodies of the guitar intro to Collider operates much the same way. The impressive stamina of the fretwork builds the intensity until they finally release into one of the more groovier sections of Wield. At this point, the listener is probably able to pick up on the subtleties of the motifs that run through the album. Using little callbacks to earlier passages, Hiroe grow the sounds and themes of Wield so that it becomes a singular piece of music broken up into movements that craft an emotional journey offering ecstatic cathartic highs.
The excellently titled Dancing At The End Of The World features the same airy guitar notes and delicious tonal shifts that ebb and flow like a breath, even when the melodies soar to a ringing crescendo. The moodier motifs slow the pace, with cymbal splashes clashing against the darker pulse of the low end. The track grows into a powerful number that feels like edgier, more robust shoegaze, filled with discordant harmonies and a soaring, celebratory triumph.
The Crush features riffing that is more angular and overtly post-metal as Hiroe demonstrate that within their beating heart lies the ability to produce the same kind of grittier, off-kilter rockouts that Tool have made their name with. The chugging, urgent rhythms and grinding, frenetic snarl that lies behind the guitar eventually lightens and becomes interspersed with light synth work. As the track expands, it explores the emotional drag they take you on, but the penultimate entry on the album sees Hiroe bare their teeth and add a sense of danger to their arsenal.
The final number, I’ve Been Waiting For You All My Life, despite its optimistic title, rides in on a juddering wall of feedback before a hopeful, light lead merges over a grinding bass line. The vibrant, vibrating tremolo and energetic drumming keep the pace moving despite the odd, detached feeling that is conjured. As the dense atmospherics swirl, the band end in a thoughtful and uplifting manner as the strings bend and dance to a swaying cadence.
Working once again with producer Mario Quintero, Hiroe have used his skills and knowledge to help create an album that harnesses the band’s dynamics and challenged them to up the ante in terms of songwriting. The resulting composition is six tracks of the most intricate and complex songwriting they have produced, and everything on the album shines with clarity, highlighting their skills and chemistry. Ambitious and self-assured, and although amongst some strong competition, Hiroe might have dropped one of the best pieces of instrumental music that Pelagic have released to date.
Label: Pelagic Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Mark Hunt-Bryden
