Agent K
Hiroe's Contemplative Post-Rock yields to more Aggressive Post-Metal interludes with Shredding shards of Metallic squalls during most tracks.
The "turn on a dime" shifts in time signatures are both majestic & powerful in its sonic effects to the entire listening process.
"Black Mountain" & "Doom Moon" are perfect examples of Hiroe's intense composition style & instrumental musicianship.
Here to CRUSH U......Indeed!
Favorite track: Everything is Fine.
Nothing raises the spirit like the soaring guitars and evocative atmospheres of post-rock, and in the past 2 years we needed it more than ever: to be dragged out of the quicksand of apathy, to be reminded of what it means to feel alive... Philadelphia-based five-piece HIROE (pronounced ‘hero-way’) deliver 5 stunning tracks that serve this purpose more than anything else we've heard this year.
Wrought is an ode to the resilience and power of the human individual, carrying over feelings of anger, anxiety, and loss, but also hope, optimism and self-discovery from the throes of the pandemic era. Main songwriter Eric Kusanagi explains: “I personally felt lost when the whole world shut down. There wasn’t a roadmap or handbook on how to manage emotions in such an unprecedented situation.”
The word ‘wrought’ refers to the act of hammering something into shape, but also to fabricating something in the way that it is supposed to be made. In the same way metals can be hammered into shape, humans can also be painfully changed and shaped by the overwhelming roughness and intensity of certain life events. With their debut album, HIROE created a lasting testament to the resilience that results from this hammering and shaping.
HIROE's architecture is built over the walls of sound created by the band’s three guitarists towering over the foundation of the huge sounding bass and powerful drumming. The larger-than-life sound of the band is forged by a carefully selected all-star line up of producers, their debut being recorded by Mario Quintero (Spotlights), mixed by Matt Bayles (Caspian, Mono, Russian Circles, Isis, Pelican) and mastered Will Yip (Caspian, Circa Survive).
“We wanted to hold ourselves to a very high standard, so to sonically achieve our goals, we enlisted the help of Mario, Matt, and Will,” explains Kusanagi, indicating that this is a production team HIROE will likely continue to employ in the future. “Mario was essentially another member of the band in the studio,“ continues Kusanagi. “They all brought their ideas to the table to help us achieve something greater than just recording a band in a room.”
Wrought is a work of a quality that is rare among debut albums, an album which epitomizes the original idea of the genre as described by Simon Reynolds in The Wire back in 1994. “Post-rock means using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs and power chords”. Wrought is confident, powerful and incredibly well-produced, combining the elegant, pretty side of post-rock staples like Pg.Lost, Mogwai and God Is An Astronaut with the heaviness of Deftones or Thrice.
Somewhere within the soaring riffs and the crushing heaviness of Wrought lies a moment in which the listener will find a sonic manifestation of the sublime, a place of reassured hope as well as a thrill of possibility that makes the album an immensely uplifting experience to propel us all through the despondent aftermath of the pandemic era. With these five fery tracks, HIROE position themselves as an exciting new player in the heavy instrumental rock world.
credits
released July 8, 2022
Eric Kusanagi - Guitars
Jill Paslier - Bass
TJ Schilling - Guitars
Jeff Dent - Guitars
Mike Norris - Drums
Produced by Mario Quintero (Spotlights, Pallbearer, Shiner)
Mixed by Matt Bayles (Isis, Russian Circles, Pelican, Mono)
Mastered by Will Yip (Caspian, Circa Survive)
Hiroe live is:
Eric Kusanagi - Guitars
Jill Paslier - Guitars
Jon Seiler - Bass
Dan Sagherian - Drums
Brian Kong - Guitars
Just in time for the holidays, Ipecac delivers a collection of rarities from Spotlights, showcasing their woozy, doomy shoegaze. Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 1, 2025
