London's deathcrash works in tense, drawn-out dynamics, cultivating a style informed by classic slowcore that often goes from whispering softness to exploding distortion. The band honed their metered, slow-motion sounds on their 2022 debut full-length Return and expanded it into something more atmospheric for their 2023 sophomore outing Less.

deathcrash formed in 2019, made up of singer/guitarist Tiernan Banks, drummer Noah Bennett, bassist Patrick Fitzgerald, and guitarist Matthew Weinberger. The band took notes from classic slowcore bands like Codeine, Low, and Duster while creating their sound together, and soon after forming they put out their debut 7" Slumber as well as Sundown (A Collection of Home Recordings), both released in 2019. Their next recording, 2020 EP People thought my windows were stars, was a more experimental effort, with song lengths that stretched out past the 15-minute mark. The band's first proper full-length arrived in 2022 with the expansive Return, and they followed it up the next year with a second album, Less. Stylistically, Less strayed somewhat from the slowcore sound that defined their earlier work, opting for more post-rock-minded experiments with atmosphere and arrangement while sticking largely to slow, lingering tempos. ~ Fred Thomas