Galvanist – The Silence Between Stars
Release Date: 27th May 2026
Label: ATMF
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Doom, Sludge Metal.
FFO: Ulm, Arkheron Thodol, Cobalt, Lycus.
Review By: Aeons Burning
Galvanist were brought to my attention by an older, yet necessarily wiser, friend of mine a couple years ago with their album Connection. A beautiful album, this debut got me hooked on Galvanist and I was hoping for more. Follow-up The Silence Between Stars takes the sound from the debut and just adds more teeth and more audible anguish throughout, resulting in a hauntingly beautiful sophomore record that’s quite addictive, and is something I can’t put down. But what makes this so good isn’t the fact that it’s experimental, as the Metallum page might indicate; it’s more the sheer authenticity that exudes from this record in every tortured note.
The Silence Between Stars is not a happy record; rather, it’s a bleak album with one of the best vocal performances I’ve heard in a very long time. Tanner Erhart does a better job at projecting pure misery than pretty much any DSBM band I can think of, and unlike that particular facet of black metal, Galvanist has some absolutely crushing riffs to pound in your skull while lamenting. There’s a very Cobalt-ian style here, with sweeping lead sections that evoke images of bleak plains and the uglier side of the American West than the romanticized version one might find on Wayfarer, for example. Gently pulsing synths add more depth as well, with Dreich and intro Bornless letting the synth take the forefront. The flow of this record is also something that cannot be understated, because the nearly forty minutes will feel like ten by the time the final notes on Spiorad play.
Dreich is my favorite song on the record, especially with the closing section where there’s a wild solo while Tanner is howling. The production quality on The Silence Between Stars gives this a rare ethereal quality rarely heard in this style of music, and it’s largely in part thanks to the inclusion of synths. I really can’t find anything I’ve heard this month that I’ve enjoyed more, save for one or two records, and Galvanist really went above and beyond with this record. The dreaded Sophomore Slump is real, but Galvanist avoided that, and I’m quite glad.
The Silence Between Stars is addictive, and any fan of angry, death-infused sludge metal needs to listen. I fear this record may go underappreciated due to the odd release timing (a Wednesday is a bit different than normal) but do yourself a favor and jam this thing once or five times. I promise you won’t regret it, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything in this vein that even remotely reaches this level of quality that’s been released this year.
(4 / 5)
