Back in the tail end of the seventies, Bon Scott of AC/DC sang “if you want blood, you got it.” Over four decades later in 2022, we might hear a comparable rallying cry from vocalist/guitarist Ryan Osterman and his post-rock/shoegaze band Holy Fawn. However, on Dimensional Bleed (Wax Bodega) — the Arizona natives’ second album — the message would be more like “if you want relentless, beautiful sadness, you got it.”

Having attracted some glowing praise with their 2018 debut Death Spells — both Thrice and Deafheaven were impressed enough to ask the band to support them on tour — Holy Fawn found themselves forced, like many others, to adapt to a new way of living and working when the Covid pandemic led to the closure of their practice space. 

As a result, the band’s full-length follow-up had to be made remotely. Was this a hard adjustment to make? It certainly sounds like it, not because the record sounds badly made — far from it — but the feeling of deep melancholy on this record is palpable. Osterman has spoken of dealing with depression as part of his creative process and certainly over the course of this fifty minutes one might find oneself asking “is this music to listen to when you’re sad, or music to make you sad?”

The answer may be a bit of both. Dimensional Bleed is an album that is unwavering in its mood and tone. From the opening track ‘Hexsewn’ with its tranquil, almost ambient textures and soothing, hushed, layered vocals, to the gorgeous and faintly gothic closer ‘Sightless, which hints at The Cure with its shimmering guitars and quiet sense of mourning, this is an undeniably gorgeous record. It is also unrelentingly sad. 

“It’s a sad and beautiful world, buddy,” as Tom Waits once said.      

From track to track the consistency of this lush, layered, floating, album reveals itself as potentially both a strength and a weakness. Nothing stands out as a bum note or a bad track here. The dreamy vocals sit back in the mix, a hushed, soothing voice — or occasionally a well-integrated black metal style shriek — while the band caries the listener on a sparkling wave of glistening guitars, pulsing bass and powerful drumming, that never overwhelms the tracks. 

It’s an undeniably lovely effect, but over the course of fifty minutes it can start to feel like being smothered in a pillow of sun-drenched melancholia.    

For sure, there are standouts here. ‘Void of Light’ has a driving beat and after a mid-track, floating break, kicks back in with double-time drums, heart-rending screams and a real sense of drama and urgency. ‘Death Is a Relief’ has a little bit of Deftones about it, with a catchy main rhythm and cool, subtle electronic textures — at times resembling a more organic and less industrial Jesu. 

Dimensional Bleed is lush, gorgeous and sad and maybe it delivers just a little too much of all of that, but if this is the mood you are looking for, it will not disappoint. 

Buy the album here: https://holyfawn.bandcamp.com/album/dimensional-bleed

7 / 10 

TOM OSMAN