Hiroe "Wield" LP

The new darlings of the American post-rock underground present a collection of well-wrought bangers on their debut full-length album. Powerfully melodic and heavy at the same time, Wield shows the Philadelphia-based quintet mastering their game of creating compelling melodies that sound larger than life.   Wield by Hiroe 2022 saw HIROE burst onto the scene with an explosive debut EP full of soaring anthems and sublime soundscapes. Combining the sonic expansiveness of Deftones with the dynamic heaviness of bands like ISIS and Caspian, HIROE already figured out how to make the most majestic sounding post-rock early in their career. “Our first album, Wrought was a statement of creation,” explains principal songwriter Eric Kusanagi about the intent behind their debut full-length. “This second record is about what to do with that creation. The thought was, we’ve created this, now how do we wield it?” For the recording of Wield, Jill Paslier moved from bass to guitars, while Brian Kong (guitars), Jon Seiler (bass) and Dan Sagherian (drums) joined to complete the lineup. Produced once more by Mario Quintero (Spotlights) Wield capitalizes on everything the band learned in the creation of its predecessor, adding to it a new focus on textural intricacies and compositional detail.