Twenty seconds of misleading calm crackles open Glassing’s Spotted Horse, until shattered by pummeling percussion and a crashing wave of sound. Bookended by sprawling epics – screaming, lawless opener “When You Stare” and meditative, instrumental closer “The Wound Is Where the Light Enters” – the sophomore LP from the local ambient metal trio bristles with chaos. Jason Camacho’s thunderous drums are buoyed by frenetic, angular guitar work from Cory Brim, while singer/bassist Dustin Coffman’s bursts of intense, guttural, hardcore hollering eschew discernible lyrics and instead serve as an additional instrument. Spotted Horse thus unfolds via a depth of feeling. “Coven” and “Fatigue” both offer minimal and spacious reprieves amidst the fervor, but harder track “Sleeper” crests on screaming, “Follow Through” chugs sludge, and the under-two-minutes “Lobe” plays out like a discordant, agonized howl. Deftly navigating a full spectrum of madness, Spotted Horse‘s amorphous intensity combines biting brutality and loveliness simultaneously.

***.5


This article appears in Summer Fun 2019.

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