Decibel Magazine
  • News
    • Op-Ed
    • Decibel Hall of Fame
    • Beer
    • Justify Your Shitty Taste
    • Kill Screen
  • Music
    • Decibel Flexi Series
    • Decibel Records
    • Streaming
    • New Releases
    • Demo:listen
  • Events
    • Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Philadelphia
    • Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Denver
    • The Decibel Magazine Tour 2025
    • Decibel’s 20th Anniversary Show
    • Decibel’s 200th Issue Show Extremely Ex-Stream
  • Store
    • The Decibel Store
    • Back Issues
    • Books
    • Exclusive Vinyl
    • Subscribe
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Back Issues
    • Advertise
  • About
    • FAQ
    • History
    • Contact
  •  Search
Extremely Extreme Since 2004
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Soundcloud

Full EP Premiere: Iress – ‘Solace’

May 11, 2023 Andrew Bonazelli
photo by Andrew Sanyshyn
Full Album Stream, News, Streaming Iress, Post Metal, premiere, Solace.

A lot of bands just kind of do their thing—no label, no PR push, no pay-to-play on websites of dubious ethical character for a single goddamn song premiere. It’s often unclear if these bands want more for themselves or their only option is DIY or and die. We try our best to document the underground via columns in the magazine like Through a Speaker Rumbly, Throw Me a Frickin’ Bone and Vicious Circles, but no one’s sieve is big enough to save all the hidden gems from tumbling into the abyss.

For the first 13 years of their existence, L.A.-based four-piece Iress have been among the unjustly anonymous. Momentum-disrupting personnel turnover, two self-released full-lengths and limited touring have added up to not much, despite the presence of one of the most mesmerizing vocalists in heavy music, Michelle Malley. Her raw, yearning howl is prone to foundational cracks that only underscore its authenticity; see “Wolves,” a lung-ripping showcase that totally warranted inclusion on both 2015’s Prey and 2020’s Flaw.

As for Solace (out May 12), it’s an excellent four-song appetite-whetter for the third album they’re still writing. “Doomgaze” is a passable enough descriptor (we’re kinda-sorta in Cloakroom/Nothing/King Woman territory here), but by no means should that be interpreted as the band aimlessly meandering. “Vanish” and “Soft” almost entirely eschew drummer Glenn Chu for relatably bleak introspection, whereas the heavier but still mid-tempo “Blush” and “Ricochet” (this is not a “fire on all cylinders” band) lure you in with new guitarist’s Graham Walker’s tasteful, deceptively simple flourishes.

DUNE ALTAR · IRESS – Solace
Pre-order Solace here.

  •   Previous
  • Next  

Related Stories

EP Premiere: Opening the Curtains to Blood Brain Barrier’s Windows Drenched in Red

July 10, 2025

Take an advance listen to the debut EP from blackened death doom duo Blood Brain Barrier!

Read More
Glacier - Photo by Banana Masher aka Matt Darcy

Album Premiere: Glacier Expand Their Post-Metal Universe with More Distant/More Violent

July 9, 2025

Boston post-metal architects Glacier return with More Distant/More Violent—a blistering, industrial-tinged companion piece to last year’s A Distant, Violent Shudder.

Read More

Full Album Stream: Viogression – “Thaumaturgic Veil”

July 8, 2025

Midwest OSDM crew Viogression riff and think hard on their latest album.

Read More

E-List Signup

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Most Popular

Track Premiere: Whitehorse – “The Wait”

Aussie drone demons Whitehorse offer up a new track, "The Wait," from their sludge match split, The Dissolution of Eternity, with UBOA.

You Should Listen to Blood Monolith

Revisit (or listen for the first time) Blood Monolith's debut album.

Full Album Stream: Viogression – “Thaumaturgic Veil”

Midwest OSDM crew Viogression riff and think hard on their latest album.

Video Premiere: Azure Emote – “Bleed With the Moon”

Avant-garde death metal masters in Azure Emote return after a five-year absence to present us with a new world of towering drama and darkness. Get a taste.

Album Premiere: Glacier Expand Their Post-Metal Universe with More Distant/More Violent

Boston post-metal architects Glacier return with More Distant/More Violent—a blistering, industrial-tinged companion piece to last year’s A Distant, Violent Shudder.

Twitter

Tweets by Decibel Magazine

I always like to refer to Type O Negative as "Flock of Assholes." But we have somewhat better haircuts.
- Peter Steele, Type O Negative (Issue #69)

Subscribe to the Decibel e-newsletter

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Contact Information

Published by Red Flag Media

1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107

(215) 625-9850

Quick Links

  • Store
  • Magazine
  • FAQ
  • Privacy Policy (2022)
  • App Privacy

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Soundcloud
✕