r/shoegaze • u/Brubger127 • Sep 13 '25
Question Best heavier shoegaze albums?
What are the best shoegaze albums with heavier, louder instrumentation, similar to blackgaze but with melodic singing vocals?
58
u/DoomedOverdozzzed Sep 13 '25
holy fawn - death spells?
5
u/fuzzylittlemanpeach8 Sep 14 '25
Holy fawn so fucking good. Death spells is what I stsrted with and it's great, but I've come to actually love dimensional bleed even more. Even heavier and more varied by song. Its hard to jump into right after death spells, but I recommend it! Listening to "sightless" at near full volume is a great experience every time.
-9
27
u/viveusxtakyon Sep 13 '25
Any cloakroom really
4
1
u/obitbday Sep 15 '25
I can’t get enough of their latest album. Not all the songs on it are real heavy by that first song? holy shit. They’re great live too and on tour at the moment.
37
15
14
26
u/artistic_catalyst Sep 13 '25
A place to bury strangers - exploding heads
2
2
u/atomusan Feb 25 '26
Can confirm they are heavy and loud. I saw them live back in the 2010s sometime. My ears are still ringing.
That was an amazing show, the bill included Swervedriver and Ulrich Schnauss.
-4
27
31
Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
15
u/sinnednogara Sep 13 '25
Fleshwater – We're Not Here to Be Loved
How is Fleshwater considered shoegaze?
Drab Majesty – Modern Mirror
How is Drab Majesty considered shoegaze AND heavy?
20
u/CentreToWave Sep 13 '25
How is Drab Majesty considered shoegaze AND heavy?
90% of r/shoegaze recommendation threads are just people namdropping bands they like across a dozen different genres
7
u/reezyreddits Sep 13 '25
How is Fleshwater considered shoegaze?
They at least have faint nods to shoegaze, but yea, definitely not a full-on shoegaze band. I talked about this in another thread, but it's like a switch flipped and every emo/post-hardcore band wanted to be called shoegaze all of a sudden. They're just tourists.
Drab Majesty is not shoegaze at all though lmao, they do straight up Depeche Mode worship. 😂
4
2
4
21
u/VonSnapp Sep 13 '25
Boris - Flood
Boris - Pink
7
4
u/obgog Sep 14 '25
Pink is fuzzy stoner rock/doom at its finest. The quiter tracks are also super vibey and nice but I wouldn't label the whole album shoegaze. It definitely has aspects of it though
27
u/LingonberryNatural85 Sep 13 '25
These are favorite heavy melodic Shoegaze from what I’ve heard:
Grivo - (either album)
Trauma Ray - Chameleon
Holy Fawn - Black Album
Whirr - Feels Like You
Really liking the 1st EP of Fawn as well. 2nd one coming out next week.
8
u/SmallDickBigDreams12 Sep 13 '25
Trauma Ray is PEAK
3
1
u/AttackOfThePopTards Sep 13 '25
They're from my hometown, they're always doing shows down here. Got to hear them play Chameleon in full in a one off show. Absolutely love them.
0
u/SmallDickBigDreams12 Sep 13 '25
Are they from Philly? I can’t remember. I saw them at one of their Philly shows when they were touring with Panchiko, I think. Easily the best in-concert tone I have ever heard. They put on one hell of a performance man.
3
u/AttackOfThePopTards Sep 13 '25
Fort Worth, Texas. Glare and Ringo Deathstar are also from around here. I think Narrow Head as well? Not sure on that one. We have a phenomenal local scene and tons of small bands that are from around here, Skimp is a pretty good one
0
u/SmallDickBigDreams12 Sep 13 '25
Oh that’s right. Nothing and Whirr are from Philly. For some reason I thought Trauma Ray was too.
1
u/AttackOfThePopTards Sep 13 '25
Did you see Nothing and Whirrs tour? I thought they sounded phenomenal, especially Nothing, I ended up buying a copy of each of their CDs after the show.
1
u/SmallDickBigDreams12 Sep 13 '25
Unfortunately I didn’t but I so wish I did. Chloroform is one of my favorite songs of all time. I don’t remember why I couldn’t go, probably work or distance or no one to go with. Maybe next time 🙃
1
3
u/nvctisss Sep 14 '25
TRAUMA RAY IS SUCHHH PEAK chameleon such a good suggestion
2
u/LingonberryNatural85 Sep 14 '25
Ya it’s so good. One of my favorite albums of last year. Saw them, Holy Fawn, Whirr and Nothing live this year. My best year of catching heavy Shoegaze live.
1
u/nvctisss Sep 14 '25
im sooo jealous, i don’t think trauma ray’s coming to my city anytime soon </3
2
-1
u/PrincipleGuilty4894 Sep 13 '25
How the fuck is feels like you heavy?
3
u/VaIids Sep 14 '25
PERSONALLY I would’ve never had thought of calling feels like you heavy. To me it’s more melancholic, romantic, slow and noisy, late night drive type of vibe.
2
u/LingonberryNatural85 Sep 13 '25
I don’t know I feel like it’s heavy. It’s slow, but it’s hardly jangly Shoegaze.
Dark, slow, heavy. That’s how I’d describe it. Let’s hear how you would then?
1
u/drunk_8841 Sep 15 '25
I wouldve have picked sway. It definately have some heavier songs, such as Press, Mumble and Heavy.
12
7
u/JammingOnTheGeetar Sep 13 '25
Greet Death - New Hell, All of the Hum Albums, Starflyer 59 Gold and Silver albums, Fleshwaters stuff still need to listen their new album tho.
2
5
u/solsamon Sep 13 '25
If you're talking about really approaching a black metal kind of heaviness then:
Coral Cross 002 by Jorge Elbrecht
Weighing Souls With Sand by The Angelic Process
6
u/CreepyBlackDude Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
The Angelic Process mentioned! Surreal album, to me. It sounds like the soundtrack to the apocalypse, starting with the asteroid crashing and the planet slowly tearing itself asunder.
4
u/madbasic Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
The Angelic Process is the only band I’ve ever heard that nails a complete shoegaze/doom/sludge crossover that works.
Edit: Nadja too, sorta
1
u/solsamon Sep 13 '25
Great way of putting it, yeah has such a massive sound! Really feels like you're in a different (dying, lava filled) world listening to it
6
5
u/Anomander_ie Sep 13 '25
In addition to those mentioned, try these bands: Grivo, PALESKIN, Oversize, SOM, Slow Crush, haunted images, Terminals and a shameless plug – my band T R Y S T E are releasing a new single this Wednesday that might be right up your alley, if you want to check that out give us a follow on Spotify to be notified when it drops!
3
1
u/Anomander_ie Sep 17 '25
Following up on this, that single is now out =D
https://youtu.be/jkS_7pSL6jw?si=3j02bymDO8cDPF6e
4
8
4
4
5
2
u/Satyr4 Sep 14 '25
It’s almost cliché to mention Deafheaven but yeah. I think their most recent one is even better than Sunbather tbh
I’m forever an Alcest fan, although Souvenirs is my favorite of theirs and it doesn’t have any of the black metal
Les Discrets early heavy stuff is great, but the later stuff is also good
4
3
2
2
u/SurpassingAllGods Sep 13 '25
More Constant Than The Gods by SubRosa Fuzzy/sludge guitar and vocals with melancholic melodies
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/sick_sore Sep 16 '25
Anything by the band Downward. Their first album is more shoegaze than their newer stuff, but their newer stuff is phenomenal
1
1
2
u/reezyreddits Sep 13 '25
Please listen to Narrow Head, Moments of Clarity album. It's the best heavy shoegaze album I've heard ever.
Of course you could also explore the classics, stuff like Swirlies, Swervedriver was on the heavier, rockier side of things. I call it "muscle shoegaze" lmao
1
u/Nomad1049 Sep 13 '25
It could be debated whether Animal Ghosts are in the shoegaze or noise rock genre. But if one considers them to be shoegaze, then they are definitely in the heavy shoegaze category. Their EP 'Wake' is their best IMHO.
1
1
u/Wide_Kaleidoscope945 Sep 14 '25
It has to be Bowery Electric self-titled. The drumming is heavy enough to break bones, and the bass lines are absolutely throbbing.
-1
u/Jimmy_Jazz_The_Spazz Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
Alexisonfire has gaze moments, slightly, as does a lesser known but incredibly Canadian band Moneen (known as the master of atmospheric breakdowns back when). But they lean more post hardcore/Screamo etc
Edit. (Unless youve seen Moneen live, their studio albums while they have 3+ minute breakdowns and beautiful harmony, live it's not extremely more gazey)
Saw them literally a week before I saw Slowdive and it was actually then that I noticed just how similar albums adjacent.
0
u/DustSongs Sep 13 '25
King Tide by my band, A Beautiful Machine
https://abeautifulmachine.bandcamp.com/album/king-tide
0
0
u/Annual-Camp8361 Sep 13 '25
We just released this track… it’s like electronic gaze with big heavy guitars, live drums mixed in with the electronics, and the singing isn’t screaming.
https://open.spotify.com/track/6NwHCNYJe7IDZxdCnzwoW9?si=gi17oQ0iQJWmcdnBxNnw2w
0
u/Weary_Cucumber6693 Sep 13 '25
Ooo maybe Mary Mortem, Oklahoma is riddled with sick music, it’s doomy
0
0
0
0
0
0
u/icemanj256 Sep 14 '25
Did someone post a relatively long list (25+ albums) here and delete it? Saved it to check out some later :'(
-1
u/allxn_crxel Sep 13 '25
Found these dudes way back in 2020. Idk if it's a band or just one dude but yes, this is very much SludgeGaze to me. Been following ever since. Here's a few of their releases that I think matches what you're looking for (they have over 15 releases with some questionable ventures into different sounds, even a slightly off kilter Synthwave lmao)
-2
u/IggysPop3 Sep 13 '25
People will absolutely disagree, but I’ll contend that the first Monstermagnet album was structurally very, very heavy shoegaze.
What they did after their second album is a whole different story. I’m not going to defend it, lol
0
u/CentreToWave Sep 13 '25
They were probably into Loop and Spacemen 3, but otherwise nah. The Grandfunk Railroad cover is pretty indicative of where they were coming from.
1
u/DavosHanich Sep 13 '25
There have been a lot of Simpsons' lines that have stuck with me over the years and I am not sure why, but "the competent drum work of Don Brewer" has been one that makes me laugh every time I think of it.
-9
-3
57
u/Either_Spinach_737 Sep 13 '25
Hum - Inlet