Dimensional Bleed by Holy Fawn: Favorite Albums of 2022

This album burst into my life in September and made a huge impact in a short amount of time.

What kind of band is Holy Fawn? Are they metal? Are they shoegaze? Is it atmospheric? Their bandcamp says they’re “Four creatures making loud heavy pretty noises.” Yes, they are. And most importantly, they put out one of the best albums of 2022 with Dimensional Bleed.

It opens with some atmospherics that slowly build into a refrain entitled “Hexsewn.”

There is only time
A circular pattern
A hex I abide
There is only time
I’ll find you again
In some other life

That immediately leads into my favorite song on the whole record, “Death is a Relief.” It’s a song that encapsulates the band really well. There are many pretty things and just enough plinks and scratches to make it atmospheric but without being distracting. The vocals are low and it’s hard to make out the words for sure, but you feel like you could sing along anyway. It has huge vocal melodies on top of even huger guitars, but it’s all about the dynamics popping in and out. Ultimately the screeching power of the metal ending pop in as you’re heading to the fourth minute.

It feels like I'm left behind
Watch how I'm eroding
Every time I'm all claw
Guilty for every rotting thought

It feels like I'm left behind
You deserve the world
I'm bleeding ash and tar
Never waking, I am guilty for it all

It’s so powerful as a song, it’s distracting to the rest of the album, to be honest. I love the rest of it too, but the gravity of “Death is a Relief” weighs heavy on this record. You know, in a good way.

I love the title track “Dimensional Bleed” as well. It’s another great representative of how the band sounds if you need to find a track that’s short-hand for this record. That said, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. There’s just too much awesome material on here. To me it all sort of flows together. Despite my highlights of certain songs, this isn’t the kind of band that produces singles, per se.

That said, if you tried to listen to just the singles, you’d miss out on one of the prettiest songs on the record, “True Loss.” Yeah, it’s got all the beauty of Explosions in the Sky without sounding like it’s stealing their vibe. The song starts sparsely and continues to build as if the band is adding members to their ranks to help them sing the refrains over and over. “Sometimes it feels like you’re the only one like me out there.” For nearly seven glorious minutes, this band allows the song to flow and breathe its way from beginning to end.

In the end, Holy Fawn has made me a fan. I love this record, and I can’t wait to see what’s next. Also, I’m not buying records or CDs anymore, so I decided to buy a really awesome hoodie from the band to show them some financial love. I wear it, but it’s very metal, and it makes me feel a little bit weird shopping for groceries in the suburbs. But that’s just my life, I guess.

Sorry if you wanted one. It’s sold out and no, you can’t have mine.