Envy

I’m as tired as the next knucklehead of hearing about shoegaze metal and listening to 12-minute songs that are drenched in predictable dynamics. But it must be said that Japan’s Envy do quite a good job at it. Sure, they are somewhere between Neurosis and My Bloody Valentine, and they go quiet-loud-quiet-loud but I guess everyone needs to like one band that sounds like that, right? That Abyssal is only a 25-minute EP adds to the charm. "Thousand Scars” is a highlight, with its riff ascending and descending, bringing the listener along with it. Abyssal is going to get Envy some attention, as the genre’s abuzz and they’ve got talent aplenty. I’ll still take Callisto as my top pick for underdog of this genre, though.