Review Summary: An excellent meeting point between Baroness, Torche, and the last couple Elder albums.
When listening to Howling Giant’s second full-length, one immediately notices how bright it sounds compared to their usual murky space-prog. On top of the rhythms feeling more intricate than ever, the guitars and organs on Glass Future are downright sunny and their established vocal interplay sounds sweeter in this context. There’s a sort of alt-rock sensibility at play yet the hard-hitting energy makes for what could be their heaviest effort to date.
This is especially true of the first half as it features the album’s most driving onslaught. “Siren Song” comes in with blasting drums before settling into a more determined set of chugs that are echoed in instrumental form on “First Blood of Melchor” and the title track’s high speed crash landing. “Aluminum Crown” is another enjoyable entry, vibing in a groovy desert haze.
From there, the back half sees that light applied to the more contemplative tempos of past releases. “Tempest, and the Liar’s Gateway” serves a dreamy curveball that plays well into the escalating rhythms and stirring choruses on lead single “Sunken City.” I also can’t deny the beauty of seeing all this light fade on the closing “There’s Time Now” seemingly surrendering to the space-doom void with a comedown beat, lonely vocals, and mournfully meandering guitars.
While the consistent flow of smaller releases can make it a little tricky to trace the trajectory from 2019’s The Space Between Worlds to here, Howling Giant has certainly put out another glowing winner with Glass Future. It’s great to see their musicianship executed with even more technical prowess and the sunny disposition is a neat change of pace, all while staying true to their adventurous melodicism. They’ve got some extra common ground with their friends in Sergeant Thunderhoof and it’s easy to imagine it as a meeting point between Baroness, Torche, and the last couple Elder albums.
