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

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.

The Pains of Existence, a new digital compilation from Destroy//Exist, arrives to herald the start of the website's ten-year celebrations. Both before and after the site's anniversary which falls on January 1st, 2024, we plan on making these two years a little bit more special.

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.

For dreamy LA-based doom quartet Iress, they have faced a lot of the tumult we have, including a global pandemic you may have heard about. Undeterred, the band has returned with a new four-track EP “Solace” that starts the bridge a gap from excellent last full-length album “Flaw” to whatever comes next. But that’s getting ahead of ourselves, and we shouldn’t do that because this is a mesmerizing, emotionally arresting piece that contains some of Iress’ finest work. The band—vocalist Michelle Malley, guitarist Graham Walker, bassist Michael Maldonado, drummer Glenn Chu—examine that phenomenon of change and the hurt and beauty often threaded into that. It’s not always easy to approach life taking a twist or turn we don’t anticipate, but what matters is how we react and go on with our lives.

“Blush” starts in a numbing buzz before the doom clouds begin to gather, giving off a vibe reminiscent of King Woman. Malley’s breathy vocals wash over you as the emotions collect, and the music builds off that, gushing and vibrating. “I don’t mind, take your time leaving,” Malley calls as the power fades into the distance. “Vanish” is murky and foggy, Malley asking, “Where do you run to?” The playing moves quietly as it slowly drips, the guitars eventually bursting, the drums more aggressively joining the fray, jarring before ending abruptly. “Ricochet” has heaviness pulsing and Malley again leading with her dominant singing, flexing her skills. The verses bleed while the choruses crush, delivering a massive wave with Malley jabbing, “Thought that I knew you,” as the guitars gain heat and melt away the tension. Closer “Soft” begins ominously, moving through the shadows, Malley admitting, “You and I, we’re not made to last.” Guitars create a greater fog, moving through the mist, Malley calling, “I’m not ready,” as the pieces crumble away into dust.

These four songs are some of Iress’ most haunting work, and “Solace” might be a shorter release, but it comes with no shortage of power and vulnerability. These songs work into your emotional DNA and identify with all of the darkest elements of your experiences, acting as something of a comfort when weary. It’s an exciting glimpse of perhaps where the band is headed, and we wait with bated breath for another full-length from this evocative band.

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.

In the band’s words, the four-track EP “tells the story of the brutal reality of change: inevitable, painful and beautiful.” Lyrically, the tracks are as poetic as they are introspective, kneading the bruised muscles and tissues that still ache from the strain of wrestling with a doomed relationship. Musically, while there are a few moments of crushing distortion, this is in no way a down-tuned slog through the swamps of Heavy Doom. As Atmospheric Black Metal is to FWBM and SWBM, so this style of Ambient Doom is to its more visceral forerunners.

The EP opens with “Blush,” where Michelle lays out the crux of the matter: The slow dissolve of a love once and still dear. Like the wisps of fog that adorn the cover and like the love they celebrate and mourn, the four tracks are heavily ambient and atmospheric—articulating something that can be felt heavy on your skin, that leaves a residue of its fleeting presence, but in the end is insubstantial and gone. Though the four tracks clock out at a scant 16 minutes, their presence sticks with you significantly longer. If you tend to immerse yourself in your listening experiences, the album will leave you emotionally exhausted.

With only four tracks, it would be unfair to pick standout tracks, but I’ll do it anyway. I’ll go with “Ricochet” which begins with an ethereal acoustic intro before ratcheting up to some fairly serious riffs. In my estimation, it’s the heaviest track on the album though some may argue for “Blush.” In complete contrast with my first choice, I’ll go with “Soft” as my other favorite track. I guess the title gives it all away. Here the more visceral contusions of pain are subsiding, and we’re left to begin the healing process—though the echoes of the past never completely fade.

Altogether, “Solace” is an impressive album. The fact that the band opted for an EP as their third release is interesting. It could be a demon that needed to be exorcized, it could be an introduction to their new lineup, it could be an inflection point in their creative journey. Either way, I’ll be curious to see if they maintain their exploration of Doom. With their second LP, “Flaw,” there was a pivot to the heavier. With “Solace” we get more rooted there, though perhaps more in spirit than in sonic temperament. Whether they opt to venture deeper into the dark landscape of Metal or not, “Solace” is at least a fair offering at our saturnine temple.

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.

One of my favorite underground bands over the past few years is Iress, the Los Angeles-based doomgaze band gearing up for the release of a brand new EP next month.

Vocalist Michelle Malley has been dubbed the “Adele of Doom” by her LA music peers Iress has generated a tremendous underground following since their 2nd self-released album, 2020’s must-hear Flaw.

The band returned from a long pandemic show break with a sold-out headlining show at LA venue The Echo and have now shared exclusively with Bloody Disgusting “Blush”, the latest track on their forthcoming EP, Solace, arriving May 12 via Dune Altar Records!

“‘Blush’ was the first song I wrote the bulk of on my own since joining the Iress, so I was kind of nervous to share it with the band,” said guitarist Graham Walker. “It was a fun new challenge to write in my own voice while also capturing the Iress sound that I’ve been a fan of for years. I remember being really excited when Michelle sent the demo back with her vocals… I immediately thought to myself, ‘Wow this is it’”

“It felt magical how naturally ’Blush’ came together,” exclaimed Michelle Malley. “I fell in love with Graham’s guitar, and the lyrics might just be my favorite on the EP. To me, this song feels like a turning point for Iress.”

On “Blush”, Malley channels doom legends King Woman, while the forthcoming EP itself is a powerhouse that’s soaked in a heavy dose of 90s grunge, calling back to bands like Alice in Chains and Deftones.

Solace releases on May 12.

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.

By GRACE DETWILER

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. 

On “Ricochet” Malley laments, “Ricochet on me, I can feel us dying / I could blame you, drinking your life away.” Their band name, as reported by Buzz Bands, is a pseudo-portmanteau – “ire” for anger and the feminine suffix “-ess.” With its poignant emotional content and deep, dark musical landscapes, the music of IRESS is a sharply sorrowful balm for the deepest of wounds. 

Listen to “Ricochet” by IRESS below, and add the single to your music library by clicking here. 

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.