Super Pink Moon – Iron Rain
Release Date: 16th February 2023
Label: Self-Release
Bandcamp
Genre: Post-Rock, Shoegaze, Indie Rock, Doom.
FFO: Somali Yacht Club, Elder, Nothing, Swervedriver, King Buffalo.
Review By: Hillary Wisniewski
Full disclosure: I am an absolute sucker for fuzzy, shoegaze music. Something about it quiets my mind and makes me feel like I have been wrapped up in a soft blanket and floated away on a cloud. Having said that, it should come as no surprise that the first review I completed for Metal Epidemic was ‘The Space’ by Somali Yacht Club. I fell in love with that record, so when it was put on my radar that SYC frontman Ihor Pryshliak was releasing an album, I was over the moon (pun intended). Created in 2019, Super Pink Moon is the vessel in which Pryshliak can experiment with sounds beyond what would be typical for SYC. His latest release, Iron Rain, holds a particular significance given the experience of living in a war torn country. Pryshliak states, “Musically, my idea was to confuse listeners as much as possible. There are many hidden tricks. I tried to craft complex melodies and rhythms with multiple layers while keeping them as ‘listenable’ as possible.”
Much like SYC, this project is a blend of sounds which are tied together with a shoegaze thread. Half of this album was written before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the other half after. Because of these unique and tragic circumstances, there are times of clear extremes in sound. Sometimes light and airy, other times shadowy and weighed down, Iron Rain is a complex but not cumbersome listen. The musicianship throughout this work is undeniable. Pryshliak’s guitar and vocals really shine through like a beacon in the darkest of places. Gentle, atmospheric, and wavy guitar transforms into thunderous noise. At times the sound is so dense it makes it easy to forget this is the product of one person. One of the most enjoyable aspects is the use of keyboards; they act as a foundation which supports various layered elements. This is highlighted well in the track Doomscrolling; during the chorus just underneath the fuzzy guitar and dreamy vocals one can hear the tone of an organ which shoulders everything quite nicely. There are so many gems to mine when listening to this record, which makes it a fulfilling listen. Truly, this album could have been incredibly doomy and full of melancholy; however, Pryshliak was able to carve out calm spaces in the midst of the storm.
I usually have some sort of critique of a record, but I am hard-pressed to find something problematic with Iron Rain. Perhaps for some people, the use of the instrumental tracks could be seen as filler, but I felt they served the purpose in moving along the overall flow of the work. Making this album was some level of catharsis; Pryshliak himself stated that following the invasion of Ukraine “To escape from reality, I had to switch my focus to something else, otherwise, I’d just go mad.” Creating any type of art is no easy feat, but to do so during a period of wartime is something I cannot imagine undertaking just from an emotional standpoint. On the other hand, though, art can also be a great source of healing. Of the time spent working on this album, Pryshliak states “I’m feeling much better, and this record is a kind of snapshot of the ‘self-curing’ process. After our victory, I don’t think I’d ever listen to this record again, too many emotions.” Even if Pryshliak cannot revisit Iron Moon, my hope is that listeners will keep coming back to it for years to come.
(5 / 5)
