Shockpowder is a shoegaze project with metal influences founded by Joshua Scurfield in 2015 and Nonsensical Dream is their latest single, released on 10/02/2023.

This really is a song of many parts. A mixture of alternative rock / shoegaze, which is “a style of rock music characterized by a sound in which the distinctions between separate instruments and vocals are blurred,” with strong metal influences, Shockpowder really is creating a sound and vision all of their own. Inspired by the post metal scene, they also have a penchant for dark, pensive vocals and hazy distortion.

The song starts off with a very floaty, alternative vibe, almost giving the impression that this is going to be an instrumental track. And that’s when the heavy, almost death-metal riffs kick in and really shake things up a bit, before returning to the brooding nature the song started with. This switch occurs many times during the song and this always keeps the listener on their toes, who is unaware when the next lot of heavy riffs are going to explode into their ears.

Distortion, as previously mentioned, plays a heavy part in the song with it being used on both instruments and vocals at certain times throughout the song, although at other points the vocals are very clear and this gives the track a very euphoric yet grungey sound.

Having previously reviewed a track by Shockpowder, I am going to reiterate what I said then and state that this song has a BIG sound for just one person! This just goes to show the amazing talent that Joshua has!

Another great track. I can’t wait to hear more!

This review is purely the property of The Metal Asylum