11.06.2026 Metro Arena, Espoo Nearly sixty years after its formation, Deep Purple remains as active and relevant as ever, both on the road and in […]
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Kicking off in early October.
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T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land brims with quotable quotes, no section more than I: The Burial of the Dead. There, we learn that ‘April is the cruellest month,’ see ‘fear in a handful of dust,’1 and drift through the ‘Unreal City’ (1, 30, 60). For the title of their sixth album, Swedish post-rock duo Oh Hiroshima digs into the opening gambit of Eliot’s modernist epic for a deeper cut: ‘Son of man, / You cannot say, or guess, for you know only / A heap of broken images, where the sun beats, / And the dead tree gives no shelter” (20–23, emphasis mine).2 The ‘dead tree,’ the band explains in their promo materials, serves as a fitting metaphor for ‘ways of living that drain the world of meaning and offer no real way of navigating the hardships of life.’ Cloistering oneself from an increasingly dystopian world breeds cynicism and apathy, making it impossible to overcome the despair caused by this world.3 Musically, And the Dead Tree Gives No Shelter attempts to ‘paint something meaningful and hopeful’ that can help us ‘leave the shelterless dead trees of our lives behind.’ For Oh Hiroshima to achieve such lofty ambitions, the tracks populating Dead Tree must avoid resembling a heap of broken images, instead cohering into a compendium of vulnerable yet powerful songs.
On And the Dead Tree Gives No Shelter, Oh Hiroshima continue diversifying their cathartic take on post-rock. Since 2022’s Myriad, Jakob Hemström (guitar, bass, vocals) and Oskar Nilsson (drums, percussion) have been adding progressive rock elements into their repertoire.4 Dead Tree recalls the textured guitar work of Mogwai, the nuanced rhythms of Tortoise, and the driving immediacy of latter-day Thrice. Subtly, the compositions are often non-traditional, gradually layering sparkling guitars over odd-time drum n’ bass and crescendoing into heavier riffing (“Meridian”). Adding to the adventurous compositions is orchestral instrumentation, with delicate piano twinkles and soaring strings swirling around the rock-band core (“Tree of Life”). Sometimes, Dead Tree releases tension through driving energy; other times, it bottles up the tension, creating a sense of longing.
And the Dead Tree Gives No Shelter also continues the band’s growing emphasis on vocals. When present in post-rock, vocals can be a bit too atmospheric and mumbly for my liking. Oh Hiroshima does occasionally write passages where Hemström’s voice unclearly contributes to sonic depth (“Servant of All,” “Meridian”). But for the most part, Dead Tree gives its vocals prominence without feeding into cliché rock-song structures. “Broken Sunlight,” for example, bookends a circuitous guitar melody, powered by a stop-start groove, with a robust, titular-line ‘chorus.’ On the more vulnerable side of the spectrum, “Angelos” comes closest to predictability, but the haunting, piano-led bridge that sprouts from the beautifully harmonized verse-chorus cycle is anything but. While not the norm on Dead Tree, these vocal-driven songs, hewing closer to traditional structures, become the glimmers that—oddly—keep the album fresh.
At 8 tracks totaling 47 minutes, And the Dead Tree Gives No Shelter coheres into a satisfying experience, with only a cracked image or two. “Servant of All” aptly introduces Oh Hiroshima’s arsenal, while “Meridian” emphasizes rhythm and “Angelos” spotlights melody. After this opening trio, “Skeleton Key” flirts with filler—while not a bad song, its mid-song jolt doesn’t develop into something terribly interesting. Fortunately, side B revamps with the ornate melancholy of “Tree of Life” and the straight-ahead drive of “Broken Sunlight.” “Ivory Town” is quite beautiful, though it doesn’t exactly stand on its own, feeling like a minimalist setup for the closer. Like a flock of Red Sparrowes, “Exit Cloud” escalates, overlaying strings and horns into a cinematic concoction, picking up the pace halfway before an intense conclusion. Perhaps the album’s strongest song, it’s a dynamite ending to Dead Tree.
Oh Hiroshima has certainly succeeded at producing an album that feels ‘meaningful.’ And the Dead Tree Gives No Shelter sounds beautiful, if perhaps humdrum, on a first listen or two. Repeat engagements, however, reveal compositional and instrumental depth, cementing the emotional staying power of its songs (with an exception or two). Son of Angry Metal Guy: if you know only a heap of breakneck metal, Dead Tree likely isn’t for you. If, however, you don’t mind post-ing your metal, or can get down with its gentler cousin, Dead Tree might supply the shantih you’ve been seeking.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Pelagic Records
Websites: Instagram | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: June 5th, 2026
The post Oh Hiroshima – And the Dead Tree Gives No Shelter Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.
Not as immediate as previous output, but carrying on with his blues as devils music, this single is unmistakably Ross Harding. The voice, the sparse arrangements, the atmospherics, Ross has his brand down to a tee. A song about sacrifice … Continue reading
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If they handed out awards for album-title wordplay, Bay Area rapper Sha Ray and NY-based producer DJ Haram would have to clear off some shelf space. Later this week, the two of them will release their collaborative LP Critical Thot, which has the best title I’ve seen in a minute. The two new tracks that they’ve shared are good, too.
The post Sha Ray & DJ Haram Announce New Album <em>Critical Thot</em>: Hear Two Songs appeared first on Stereogum.
‘Part deux’ starring Tony Hawk will be out later this month.
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Black Sabbath bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler appeared alongside Foo Fighters’ Nate Mendel in episode two of Fender’s “Lowdown on the Low End” video series, a forum for bass players to trade stories about the Fender Precision Bass and their lives in bands.
Butler recalled (transcribed by Blabbermouth) the moment that inspired him to take up the bass: “The one player that totally showed me what you could do with a bass was Jack Bruce. When I went to see Cream, everybody was going, ‘You’ve gotta see this incredible guitarist. His name’s Eric Clapton.’ And back then, it was like they used to play little clubs around Birmingham. I stood right at the front of the stage. Jack came out with his Fender, and it was like, ‘What the hell?’ I couldn’t believe that people could do that with a bass. And that was it. I went, ‘That’s what I wanna do. I wanna play bass.’”
Asked by Mendel what drew him to the Fender Precision Bass specifically, Butler recounted the origin of Black Sabbath: “I was a rhythm guitarist at first. When I was 15, I had a group called The Rare Breed, and I used to think I was John Lennon and play rhythm guitar. Then the singer left, so we looked around and got this guy called Ozzy Osbourne in the band. And we did a few gigs with Ozzy, and he says, ‘This is terrible. I’m leaving the band.’ We wanted to form a different band, and we both lived around the corner from each other in Aston. And Ozzy says, ‘Well, I know this guitarist called Tony Iommi. I used to go to school with him. Let’s go and see what he’s doing.’ Well, actually, we were looking for a drummer. We didn’t really think about bassists back then. And we asked Tony if he knew any drummers, and he says, ‘Well, it just happens Bill Ward’s here in the house.’ So Bill Ward came out, and me and Ozzy told him what we were doing, and he says, ‘Well, I’ll join you if Tony comes along.’ So Tony says, ‘Yeah, I’ll give it a go.’ He says, ‘But I’m not playing with a rhythm guitarist.’ So I said, ‘Well, I’ll switch to bass then.’ And, of course, I didn’t have a bass. I only had a Fender Telecaster. I swapped me Fender Telecaster for a Precision bass. I thought, ‘Well, I’ve got a Fender, so the next thing I wanna get is another Fender.’ Nothing had the balance of a P-Bass. It had perfect balance. A lot of other basses, the neck was too heavy. So this was perfect ‘cause I got fat fingers as well, so the wider neck is great for me… Plus there’s only two knobs, which is great for me.”
A founding member of Black Sabbath and the lyricist behind such classics as “War Pigs,” “Iron Man” and “Paranoid,” Butler and the original Sabbath lineup — Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward — made their final appearance together at last year’s “Back to the Beginning” charity concert at Villa Park in Birmingham, England. In a tribute article for The Sunday Times following Osbourne’s death on July 22, 2025, Butler wrote: “Nobody knew he’d be gone from us little more than two weeks after the final show. But I am so grateful we got to play one last time together in front of his beloved fans. God bless, Oz, it has been one hell of a ride! Love you!”
The post BLACK SABBATH’s GEEZER BUTLER Says CREAM’s JACK BRUCE Was “The One Player That Totally Showed Me What You Could Do With a Bass” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.