“Radiance” by Ison

If you like your metal with a sense of cosmic grandeur and beauty, or — conversely — you think that metal only consists of tortured vocals and fiery guitar solos, then I suggest you check out the new single by Swedish “cosmic metal” duo Ison.

Taken from their upcoming album Inner — Space, “Radiance” blends sludgy distorted riffs with haunting vocals courtesy of Heike Langhans and Alcest’s Neige (one of the progenitors of atmospheric metal), layers of dreamy synths, and an overriding sense of melancholy awe. The resulting song is never less than spellbinding for the duration of its ten minutes.

If you dig this, and you can’t wait until Inner — Space’s August 25th release date, then by all means grab the duo’s earlier EPs — Andromeda Skyline (2018) and Cosmic Drone (2015) — which also explore this sound (i.e., a “gloomily beautiful, evocative music that conveys both the sublime beauty of the spheres as well as the crushing alienness of the interstellar expanse”).