(written by Islander)
As you can see, we’re about to premiere a song by Hanging Garden. This is not the Finnish collective that has been releasing music for the last 20 years under that name but is instead a vehicle for the solo work of Dylan Cruz from Yonkers, New York, whose resume includes current or former membership in Noxis, Scumbag, and Dissonance.
Though the name may cause some confusion, no one would confuse the music of the two Hanging Gardens. The one whose song we’re premiering today traffics in a form of technically impressive and richly nuanced progressive death metal.
This Hanging Garden released a debut album (The God That Made Them Bow) in 2024, and on September 18th Transcending Obscurity Records will release the project’s second full-length — Dream Death. The song we’re now premiering is “Tears of Lustful, Secret Desire“.
In listening to the song, adjectives like “kaleidoscopic”, “iridescent”, and “dazzling” spring to mind — visual metaphors for an audio experience that is itself remarkably colorful and dynamically varied. “Mind-bending” is another useful descriptor.
From the first moment the pacing is fast, though its hard-driving propulsion includes subtle changes in speed (until a more marked change near the end). The drums and bass are forward in the mix, with the former marking its own frequent changes (though also frequently returning to double-bass assaults) and the latter worth paying attention to as it’s dexterously manipulated to create intriguing flourishes of its own.
But the multi-layered guitars, dialed in with a multitude of tones, create the song’s most dazzling experiences. They rapidly dart, swirl, blaze, and contort, creating a multitude of exhilarating motifs and returning to them, but also introducing musing melancholy melodies that drift more slowly.
It’s equally impressive that the instrumental changes not only spin listeners’ heads but also create alterations of mood. The song’s first transfixing guitar solo, for example, which is scratchy and slithering, seems to wail and plead, and it leads into a feverish melody that sounds distraught, while the next one intriguingly peals in quick bursts.
Near the end the rhythm section abruptly falls silent, and another guitar solo creates a bereft feeling which carries through to the end, even after the drums and bass return (at a slower pace than before). The concluding guitar solo wails in sorrow, a striking but heart-sinking finale for such a stirring and generally heart-lifting spectacle.
We’ve been focusing on the instrumentation, but the song does include vocals — which harshly range from vicious roars and savage howls to blackened snarls and screams.
Transcending Obscurity will release Dream Death on vinyl LP, jewelcase CD, and digital formats, along with apparel and other merch offerings, all of it featuring the intriguing blue cover art by Hafiz. T.O. recommends it for fans of Death, early Sentenced, Goreworm, Xenosis, Opeth, and Krallice.
Along with the usual links we’re including streams of two previously released songs from the album, “Dreamwoven” and “Arete“.
PRE-ORDER:
https://hanginggarden-label.bandcamp.com/album/dream-death
http://us.tometal.com/
http://transcendingobscurity.aisamerch.com/
http://eu.tometal.com/
HANGING GARDEN:
https://facebook.com/hanginggarden
https://instagram.com/hanginggarden.official