[AUDIOECLECTICA] ALBUM REVIEW: IRESS- SOLACE

I’m sure we’ve all heard albums that have left a last impression on ones self. Sometimes these albums take us to different places be it in our minds, imaginations, etc. Then there are times when an album comes out that hits you at the right moment in all the right ways and it makes it feel like everything will be ok because of that album. A couple months back the band Iress, released the song “Ricochet” off their now released and utterly spellbinding and superb EP, Solace. The moment I heard that song, I knew there was something more to it than just a “dark/moody vibe.” What I found was a band that sonically devastates while at the same time draws you in seductively. Iress’s new EP, Solace is a piece of art and music that hypnotizes you while the words and vocals crawl under your skin and gives you the type of chills that you might find when you reach that moment of clarity. The life that these songs breathe is astounding. One of the most intriguing factors about Iress is their ability to utilize atmosphere and space to balance out the heavy nature of the songs. It’s a feeling you will notice as you listen. Through all the darkness on these songs, the hope and light found throughout is breathtaking. The depths these songs take you and the place it leaves you in the end is the light at the end of the tunnel. Fronted by Michelle Malley (aka The Adele Of Doom) her vocals and guitar take you on quite a journey of love, loss, pain, and anguish all while the band Graham Walker (guitar), Michael Maldonado (bass) and Glenn Chu (drums) create the soundtrack to all this and add the right sonic elements the leaves you breathless. Another aspect that makes this release so damn good is the production. Producer/Engineer/Mixer Alex Estrada (Touche Amore, Joyce Manor, etc) makes this all come to life by capturing the raw and emotional charged performances of each member. There is no mistaking the magnitude that Iress puts out and with this EP it’s not even close to where their potential lays. I personally can’t wait to hear what else this band does and goes musically. Solace is not just a superb release, it’s my favorite release of 2023. Congratulations to all involved in the creation and release of this masterful EP. Iress is here and they are coming for you! You can pick up your copy of the EP now via the one and only Dune Altar Records (one of the best indie labels around)!

Overall Rating: A

[DECIBEL MAGAZINE] Full EP Premiere: Iress – ‘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.

[MEAT MEAD METAL] DOOM HAUNTERS IRESS ENRAPTURE WITH DARK TRANSMISSIONS ABOUT CHANGE ON ARRESTING EP ‘SOLACE’

Nothing lasts forever, though many of us lie to ourselves and bargain with whatever forces we can to try to maintain status quo as long as we can. But that’s not reality. The world changes, people move on to other things, and even worse, those who we love and hold dear sometimes leave for whatever plane of existence is next. Or sometimes people’s hearts change, leading to life upheaval.

[METAL TEMPLE] Iress – Solace

IRESS is a Heavy Alt quartet out of Los Angeles. I’m hesitant to call them Metal, though their latest release moves them to an adjacent space of maybe Doomglaze or Post-Metal. They formed in the way back of 2010 and have two LPs to their credit. On May 12, 2023 they’ll add an EP, “Solace,” to their discography. This will be their first recording with their new guitarist, Graham Walker, who joined the group in 2022. It also marks a notable shift in their sound away from the lighter Alt vibes and veering into the darker terrain of Doom while leaning more on Michelle Malley haunting, emotive vocals.

[THE OBELISK] Iress, Solace EP

Conveying genuine emotionality and reach in the vocals of Michelle Malley, the four-track Solace EP from L.A.’s Iress turns its humble 16 minutes into an expressive soundscape of what the kids these days seem to call doomgaze, with post-rock float in the guitar of Graham Walker (who makes his first appearance here) atop the solemn and heavy-bottomed grooves of bassist Michael Maldonado and drummer Glenn Chu for a completeness of experience that’s all the more immersive on headphones in a close-your-eyes kind of listen — that low contemplation of bass after 2:20 into “Soft,” for example, is one of a multitude of details worth appreciating — and though leadoff piece “Blush” begins with a quick rise of feedback and rolls forth with a distinct Jesu-style melancholy, Iress are no less effective or resonant in the sans-drums first two minutes of “Vanish” in accentuating atmosphere before the big crash-in finishes and “Ricochet” offers further dynamic display in its loud/quiet trades, graceful and unhurried in their transitions, the surge of the not-cloying hook densely weighted but not out of place either behind “Vanish” or ahead of “Soft,” even as it’s patience over impact being emphasized as Malley intones “I’m not ready” as a thread through the song. Permit me to disagree with that assessment. The whole band sounds ready, be it for a follow-up album to 2020’s Flaw (which was their second LP) or whatever else may come.

[NEW NOISE MAGAZINE] Bandcamp of the Day: It’s Bandcamp Friday!

Iress are a doomgaze act from Los Angeles, California who have been described as the “Adele of Doom.”

They recently put out a new single called “Ricochet” on Dune Altar Records. The single is available on their Bandcamp page.

It starts off with those beautiful femme vocals that build up with no distortion in the music until the heavy guitars come crashing in like waves against the rocks. It’s a song that thrashes hard but still comes back to some really powerful vocals, like a less radio-friendly Evanescence.

[RUE MORGUE] Radio Macabre: Doom Metal Band IRESS Returns With Haunting New Single “Ricochet”

IRESS, a Los Angeles band equally influenced by doom metal and shoegaze, has released their first single since the 2020 album Flaw, entitled “Ricochet.” The following EP, Solace, promises more of the dark beauty of Flaw and its predecessor Prey (2015). Featuring Michelle Malley, Michael Maldonado, Glenn Chu, and Graham Walker, IRESS alchemizes Malley’s rich vocals with the heavy instrumentation of her bandmates. 

[Fémforgács] Iress – Fájdalmasan gyönyörű

A Los Angeles-i székhelyű heavy slowcore / doomgazey banda az Iress május 12-én kiadja új EP-jét Solace címmel. A csapat 2010-ben alakult az “Adele of Doom“-nak becézett Michelle Malley énekesnő és Michael Maldonado basszusgitáros által. Zenéjükben a  shoegaze, a slowcore és a domm metal sötét, parancsoló elemeit keverik a filmszerű crescendo pillanataival, ami által műfajilag is valami újszerűen brutálist, egyben fájdalmasan gyönyörűt alkottak. Hamarosan megjelenő kislemezükről elsőként Ricochet című daluk hallgatható meg.

 
 
 
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