The most redeeming quality on the album, and moreover of the band, are the vocals of Michelle Malley. They give a chiaroscuro effect to the vast, foreboding landscape that Alex Estrada’s mixing establishes, where individual musical parts feel spread widely apart. Malley’s voice shines like a beacon through the dark. Sinewy track transitions tie some of the songs together and further service the themes of isolation and loss, particularly the muffled talking at the end of “Mercy.”
[SOPHOMORE SLUMP] Album Review - Sleep Now, In Reverse by Iress
Iress have been working towards this album for a few years. Waiting for the rise of shoegaze to meet the acceptance of fans of doom filled metal. Now the time seems perfect. The stars are aligning, and the world should finally be ready to move them from underground Los Angeles band to well-known international act. Michelle Malley's vocals form the centre of everything on this album. The clever bit is that she pins it all together without ever feeling like she's dominating the sound or going OTT with her delivery. Please take note other vocalists, you don't need to bark, growl or bite to be the centre of attention.
That not to say that the rest of the band are just mere passengers. The entire Iress family is knocking out of the park on this album. The sign of a truly great band is knowing exactly what the required amount of presence or space is. On every single track there is a restraint shown that is the domain of the truly tasteful - take a bow Graham Walker (guitars), Michael Maldonado (bass), and Glenn Chu (drums).
This is not an album of bright moments or big singalong choruses; this is an album for people who enjoy melancholy and want to swim in the deep dark pools it can create. That's not to say it's an album that depresses you, as it's littered with so many moments of staggering beauty.
If you're the kind of person who likes Deftones tracks like Minerva and Change (In The house Of Flies) then this album is for you. Equally if you're coming from the more indie side of shoegaze, there is nothing to fear. The album delivers beautiful melodies over walls of guitars. The main difference being that the rhythm sections are punchier and more technical. By the time you reach the outstanding In Reverse, you can't help but feel seduced into submission.
VERDICT: A stunning album with one of the most haunting vocal performances of the year.
4.75 / 5
[METAL STORM] Iress - Sleep Now, In Reverse review
Sleep Now, In Reverse could prove to be one of the best releases in the doom/shoegaze category this year; the flow throughout and in between each song allows for such a smooth and engaging listen. Instrumentally it takes you to places of self-reflection that can offer be both an uplifting and at times sorrowful experience, but the vocals remain the key element that helps bring the incredible raw emotion to life, making this one of the most captivating releases in both doom and shoegaze this year. So, I once again recommended you don't sleep on Sleep Now, In Reverse.
[SPUTNIK MUSIC] Iress Sleep Now, In Reverse
While all the individual elements of Sleep Now, In Reverse are excellent, it is Iress’ ability to bring it all together that makes this such a deeply excellent record. Its ten tracks are so much more than merely ten tracks: they epitomise an entrancing experience. Even though the band operate within some of the gloomiest genres around, this album is shockingly colourful. It explores tales of despair through excellent songwriting, tops everything off with production capable of taking expansive and restrained moments alike to the next level, and leaves before you know it. If Flaw were an ocean, Sleep Now, In Reverse embodies a mountain - beautiful if overwhelming from afar, yet lively and intricate upon closer inspection. Clouds loom, erupt and destroy, and we’re lucky to be mere spectators.
[FLOOD MAGAZINE] Iress Walk Us Through Their Nuanced Doomgaze Opus Sleep Now, in Reverse
[DESTROY//EXIST] Iress: Lovely (Forget Me Not)
Iress has developed with time, constantly experimenting with new sound components while highlighting Michelle Malley's vocals, which are equal parts strong and delicate. The band's new full length, Sleep Now, In Reverse, is out through Dune Altar, and all of its preceding singles showed off how Iress' artistry continues to grow, with their consistently heavy and emotional sound playing a major role.
Lovely (Forget Me Not), the single which coincides with the album's release, undoubtedly contains aspects from nineties alternative and grunge, together with the familiar sound of Iress. The vocals and lyrics of the track, while a little more upbeat and more vibrant than what one would usually expect from the band, still manage to easily convey a sense of gloom which runs throughout the new album's entirety.
[DARKENINHEART] Lovely (Forget Me Not) by Iress
Lovely (Forget Me Not) is the latest single from heavy shoegaze / doom / dreampop experimenters Iress, part of the band's new album, Sleep Now, In Reverse, released via Dune Altar. The new song finds the band turning toward a slightly more upbeat style, while staying true to the usual sentimentality of their songwriting.
On this latest example from their new album, Iress don't lose the pervasive melancholy that defines the entire release. The song's lyrics and vocal delivery maintain a haunting quality, ensuring the eloquence of the album's somber mood.
Iress delivers what they do best once more, a blend of moody atmosphere and powerful sounds that creates a stunning collision of shades of light and dark.
[GRIND ON THE ROAD] Iress > Sleep Now, In Reverse
Non ce la sentiamo di citare uno o più brani nello specifico, l’intera opera dei Nostri merita la vostra completa attenzione dall’inizio alla fine, candidandosi ad una sorpresa per questo 2024, che sa anche di una conferma se chi legge questo scritto è già venuto in contatto con la musica dei californiani. Sleep Now, In Reverse è un ascolto e un acquisto da fare a occhi chiusi, che eleva gli Iress a nome ormai di spicco nella scena doomgaze che, a discapito di un’etichetta mai del tutto riconosciuta, sta vantando un sempre più crescente numero di fan.
[MUSIPEDIA OF METAL] Reviews: Category 7, Sacri Monti, Iress, Terra Black (Reviews By Mark Young, Rich Piva, Matt Bladen & James Jackson)
Iress - Sleep Now, In Reverse (Church Road Records)
Classed as 'dream metal', Iress were formed in 2010 and the pair terror with beauty, imagine the end of the world coming almost in slow motion unfolding cinematically in front of you, then Iress are the soundtrack.
I suppose you could call it shoegaze but there's lots more too it than that. Iress could only be from L.A, they safe steeped in grandeur but beneath that there's an introspection, the moments of heaviness just stayed from erupting too much by a quiet reserve.
Bassist Michael Maldonado, drummer Glenn Chu, and guitarist Graham Walker, have evolved and melded their instrumental brilliance over the last 14 years, perfecting their emotionally resonant 'doomgaze' to the what you hear on Sleep Now, In Reverse. They build the atmosphere, slow burning and dramatic on The Remains, a steady, airy drumbeat that opens itself in to some doom crushing doom.
On a track such as Ever Under, the vocals of Michelle Malley are smokey and beautifully evocative, on tracks like Mercy, she presents a blissful, close quarters whispering before belting towards the cathartic end.
Leviathan (The Fog) continues with the whispered vocal style as In Reverse is beautiful, fully showing why Malley is referred to as the "Adele of Doom", soulful and impassioned she's got one of the best voices I've heard in years, literally causing chills even on the heavier moments such as Knell Mera as well as the dreamy Sanctuary.
For fans of bands such as Holy Fawn, King Woman, Sylvaine, Slow Crush, Iress' new album is stunning. 9/10
[ECHOES AND DUST] (((O))) INTERVIEW: MICHELLE MALLEY FROM IRESS
Formed in Los Angeles in 2010, Iress have just released their excellent new album Sleep Now, In Reverse (the band’s first release on Church Road records) and its glorious combination of ethereal shoegaze and heavier elements results in a sublime listening experience. To celebrate the release of the album, we caught up with vocalist Michelle Malley to hear all about Sleep Now, In Reverse, the bands forthcoming debut UK tour, and the past, present and future of Iress.