Shockpowder is a shoegaze project with metal influences founded by Joshua Scurfield in 2015, and having already reviewed a few singles by Shockpowder, I jumped at the chance to review this one too. Europa is the latest single from this great project and was released on 047/04/2023.
The one thing I love about Shockpowder’s music is the unpredictability of it. One minute you are listening to soothing shoegaze sounds and the next you are thrown into heavy metal riffs, and you are never quite aware when this is going to happen.
With soothing guitar sounds and vocals to kick off the track, the listener could be fooled into thinking they are listening to a easy-listening track that will transport you off into another dimension as the vocals and music blur and merge into one another (the main element of shoe-gaze music) Of course, the song can quite easily do that but while you have been whisked off somewhere relaxing and peaceful, heavy metal, bordering on black metal, riffs are thrown into the mix.
Pounding, fast drums are then included into the music and, although this changes the whole ethos of the music of the track, the vocals remain constantly soft and gentle, with that soothing effect. This creates a sound quite unlike I have ever heard before (apart from other Shockpowder tracks!) sand this is what sets this project apart from others.
Metal music makes up the majority of my listening base, but the way Shockpowder combines it with something that is at completely the other end of the scale, and still make it sound awesomely good, is just fantastic. Mixing genres is never easy but Joshua seems to have nailed it with Shockpowder, showing he is an incredibly talented musician, and one that should be applauded more for what he is doing for music.
Another great track, Shockpowder! Keep up the magnificent work!
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