{"id":643235,"date":"2026-06-17T09:11:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T09:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/643235\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T09:11:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T09:11:15","slug":"review-galvanist-the-silence-between-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/643235\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Galvanist – The Silence Between Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Published by Vince<\/a> on 2026\/06\/162026\/06\/16<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Artwork by: Bahrull Marta<\/a><\/p>\n

Style: Death Doom Metal, Progressive Metal, Atmospheric Sludge Metal, Progressive Death Metal (Harsh Vocals)
Recommended for fans of: The Ruins of Beverast<\/a>, Cult of Luna, Thou
Country: United States (Montana)
Release date: 27 May 2026<\/p>\n

Philosophy has long been a sticking point with many a progressive metal band; without an Alan Watts sample or narrative on Jungian principles, how else are we to know how insightful and deep their music is compared to \u201cGirls Girls Girls\u201d, after all? I jest, of course, but some of it can get rather pretentious and I\u2019ll be the first to admit much of what\u2019s being talked about goes over my head\u2014but damn if there isn\u2019t something fascinating about the whole pursuit. Perhaps vital, too, in our age of boiling anti-intellectualism.<\/p>\n

While other bands gravitate towards stalwarts like Carl Jung, Watts, or Freidrich Nietzsche, Montana\u2019s Galvanist look towards French philosopher Georges Bataille for inspiration in bringing their aphotic, semi-dissonant death doom to life. Who\u2019s that, you ask? I don\u2019t know either, but he thought about a lot of stuff like accursed shares, base materialism, human sacrifice,1<\/a> and\u2026 testicles? Anyway, Galvanist\u2019s sophomore album, The Silence Between Stars, weaves a tale of the \u201cagonizing onset of an individual\u2019s physical incarnation, and the search for purpose, the relation between entities, between persons and place, and the transcendent remembrance of beings and realities existent beyond the corporeal.\u201d That sounds convincingly philosophical to me, so the big question is: Do Galvanist have what it takes to be remembered in their lifetime? Or, like Bataille, will they be cursed to obscurity until after they\u2019re gone?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Galvanist waste no time asserting a sense of alien foreboding with the atmospheric opener, \u201cBornless\u201d, whose warbling synths and questing bleep-boops evince a sense of wandering through a formless void, before \u201cAtrophy\u201d births the listener into consciousness with a violent, burst of sinisterly contorting guitars and Tanner Erhart\u2019s tortured bellows. Drummer Chris Navarro sets the pace, moving from measured hits to tumbling fills and gravitonic blasts that feels like being pulled through the womb of Creation against one\u2019s will\u2014a starlit journey into an awakening, replete with all the wonders and horrors that such sublime awareness entails. Micah Tippit\u2019s (guitarist, keyboards) keys act as textural devices across The Silence Between Stars, coming in to either heighten tension (\u201cAtrophy\u201d), or deliver moments of transcendent hope (\u201cDreich\u201d) alongside the harrowing, occasionally beautiful guitarwork he and Erhart have conjured. What\u2019s more, the band have managed to create a seamlessly fluid run of tracks that nonetheless all stand on their own, each a glittering star worthy of note within the constellation that is The Silence Between Stars.<\/p>\n

Really, the only loose end in all of Galvanist\u2019s efforts here is \u201cBornless\u201d, which\u2014as I find is the case with most intro tracks\u2014could have simply been added onto \u201cAtrophy\u201d and saved us all the trouble of a sixty-three second track. Oh, and despite the production being generally delightful in its suffocating aura and punchiness, as is typical for metal, Kevin George\u2019s bass is by and large inaccessible to mortal ears. Small nitpicks which do little to dent the album\u2019s overall potency\u2026 which may have those who\u2019ve sneaked a peek at the score below wondering how we got there. The answer is simple: there\u2019s just something missing that pushes The Silence Between Stars from \u201creally good\u201d to \u201cgreat\u201d, an absence of that mystical, undefinable X Factor required to open up the third ear.<\/p>\n

Make no mistake: Galvanist are doing everything right on this album. There\u2019s no performance that feels lacking or inconsistent; the music is paced and composed in such a way that allows for atmosphere without sacrificing forward momentum; and even the Ashenspire-esque talk-screaming on \u201cDreich\u201d works. The Silence Between the Stars is a solid record that comes easily recommendable, but for me the infectiousness needed to attain higher status is frustratingly, tantalizingly out of reach. Maybe one day, like Bataille and other thinkers and creatives before (and after) him, I\u2019ll come to appreciate Galvanist\u2019s work here in a fuller capacity; but for now, I\u2019ll have to leave the true admiration in the hands of others.<\/p>\n

Recommended tracks: Atrophy, Dreich
You may also like: Void of Light, Skaphos, Sidera, IATT<\/a>
Final verdict: 7\/10<\/p>\n

Related links: Bandcamp<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

Label: Independent<\/p>\n

Galvanist is:
\u2013 Kevin George (bass)
\u2013 Chris Navarro (drums)
\u2013 Micah Tippit (guitars, keyboards)
\u2013 Tanner Erhart (vocals, guitars)<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n