Materializer Premiere “Dopamine Ravine” Video; As the Body Flies Out Oct. 2
Posted in Bootleg Theater, Reviews on August 25th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Nashville atmospheric heavy two-piece Materializer release their debut album, As the Body Flies, on Oct. 2. This week they’ll embark on a regional tour to herald the record’s coming, and to mark the occasion, they’re premiering a video for “Dopamine Ravine” from it. You’ll find it streaming below.
Siblings Conner Poole (guitar/vocals) and Chris Poole (drums/vocals) comprise the band, whose existence was announced late last year following the dissolution of the trio The Swell Fellas. That band’s last full-length, 2024’s Residuum Unknown (review here), demonstrated how much they had grown over the course of their near-decade together, to a point where the name didn’t really represent who they were musically anymore. I don’t know what was behind the decision not to employ another bassist, but with As the Body Flies, the Poole brothers create an atmospheric density that wants nothing for fullness, in the low end or any other. Contrasted by the acoustic “Gateway Grand” on side B, what surrounds is heavy immersion, tones and rhythmic structures deep and complex enough to give an impression of worldbuilding. “Falling Out of the Fold,” which opens, sets a bed of drone behind its chugging initial riff in its buildup, and that reveals part of the methodology, but Materializer know there’s more than one way to crush a cat, and congratulations, you’re the cat.
The leadoff opens to a rolling largesse and meets with a melody that in another production context might sound born of an Uncle Acid influence, the voice watery and somewhat obscured by the wash of cymbals and the riff they’re riding. But the point is to draw the listener in, to hypnotize as well as enact that instrumental hook, and as they bleed directly into “Walking Home” and the noise changes shape to begin the next procession, they make it clear they don’t want anything to take the listener out of the experience until they say so. Thus are they in command of their sound and the shaping of As the Body Flies. You can attribute that to the fact that they were in a band together before, but with brothers, it’s not unreasonable to think they’ve been playing music together since that meant banging on pans on the kitchen floor. Chemistry isn’t a question.
Where “Falling Out of the Fold” was immediate in its nod, “Walking Home” takes more time to get there, swirling Deftonesy conjurations of noise and unwavering melodic vocals gradually making their way to a crush even more about impact than the prior. This noisy feel remains overarching throughout the record, but there’s a stop before “Dopamine Ravine” starts with the guitar and a buildup of drums leading right into the verse — it’s the shortest song at 3:01; there’s no time to waste — and the spaciousness of the notes floating lends a post-metallic ambience as the notes float around and seem to hit walls in the space they’re creating. It comes apart in cymbal wash and drone, and stick clicks lead the way into “Swallowed in Rain,” which concludes side A with a resumption of purpose. Additional vocal layering underscores the arrangement potential there, but “Swallowed in Rain” is more aggressive as well, tighter and faster in its pummel, and massive as the verse continues following a muted beat, moving through an extended guitar solo into a second half that becomes more chaotic as it goes, twisting leads and crash lurching upward and slamming down, but ending quietly with a last lyric before giving over to the start of “Unwind” on side B.
There’s something of a shift in construction on the second half of As the Body Flies, which bookends with the longer “Unwind” and “Trial,” the latter of which tops eight minutes and is both closer and the longest inclusion, with the aforementioned “Gateway Grand” and the subsequent “Longest Drag” between them. Keeping Materializer from incongruity is just how broad the range across the first half of the album is — that is to say, they push outward from the very beginning, so by the time the drums start “Unwind,” there’s room enough for just about whatever they want to do. The drums are central to the build as the guitars and vocals start in on the verse, still melodic, brooding with tension soon unfolding into heavier tones and a darkly psychedelic splendour. The change in movement happens after the chorus, where the drums drop out and the vocals become whispers beneath a steady drone and the guitar floating overhead; a wash that seems like it’s making its way into a huge, lumbering plod but that turns instead from all that rumble at 4:51 back to the verse, sung sweetly but in a moment exploding into a twisting riff and early-Mastodonic gruntriff, coming to a stop at 6:35 before a second burst brings the layered solo frenzy.
They do return to the riff briefly before the feedback ends it, but “Unwind” is pointedly vivid in its atmosphere, and part of what the departure into “Gateway Grand” does is allow the listener time to process the journey they’ve just been on. Stripped of all that widescreen distortion, “Gateway Grand” highlights the human aspect, the later vocal harmony and an accompanying strum set to its own rhythm, and like “Dopamine Ravine” complements the start of “Swallowed in Rain,” so too does “Longest Drag” seem to pick up from “Gateway Grand” sounding richer for the contrast in volume. Taken as a whole, I’m not sure you would call As the Body Flies a patient album — it’s not trying to make you wait around to be flattened, is what I mean — but neither is “Longest Drag” rushed, steadily moving forward in its first two minutes before the drums signal the change coming and the tonality gets huge once again. They let it go back into the verse, but cycle through again, and the going is more satisfying the second time for knowing what’s about to hit. All the while, the vocals remain willfully melodic. To a degree that it feels like part of the mission of the band, which maybe it is, I don’t know.
“Longest Drag” caps with a familiar distorted rumble that cuts off to the quiet guitar intro of “Trial,” in which nod becomes paramount. A midtempo rolling chug lends a progressive feel to the early verse, but it’s a march and thus bound to lead somewhere, and by then, the shift to crush is telegraphed. There are harsher vocals, mixed lower than the cleans, and that’s part of what makes “Trial” feel like such a culmination, but as it moves into its second half, the truth is it feels that way anyhow. Jabbing skronk and stops give a mathier feel, but it’s not the mosh part of a modern metal song so much as the setup for the noisy, brief solo. Tighter, faster churn takes hold after five minutes in, and they carry that breakdown riff as the ending for the song, bringing in a sample over the last residual feedback to add extra finality, and when it’s over, the silence feels heavier for their having done so.
I know it’s not out for a while yet, but the work Materializer do here results in both one of 2026’s most cohesive and purposeful debut albums, but a showcase of where their forward growth could continue to lead, in the melody and the tonal force alike. And as grim as moments throughout As the Body Flies may feel, the Pooles never lose sight of what they want the songs to do, the spaces they want to explore and in which they want to immerse the listener.
“Dopamine Ravine” doesn’t represent the entirety of As the Body Flies, and I’m not sure any single track would, but it’s fortunate in that case that down near the bottom of the post you’ll find the Bandcamp player, where as of this writing, “Falling Out of the Fold,” “Swallowed in Rain” and “Longest Drag” are also streaming. That’s four out of eight tracks altogether, so should be enough to catch an impression. I’d advise taking a breath and digging in.
Please enjoy:
Materializer, “Dopamine Ravine” video premiere
Nashville’s Stoner Metal/Doom Duo Materializer To Release Debut LP, As The Body Flies, Out October 2
Preorder: https://materializer.bandcamp.com/album/as-the-body-flies
On their first record as a duo, the Poole brothers double down on unpredictable songwriting, arrangements swinging from crushing and chaotic to serene, carrying an uncanny devotion to the sound first forged in their previous project, The Swell Fellas.
Materializer, the new project formed by brothers Conner and Chris Poole, will release their debut full-length, As The Body Flies, on October 2. Alongside the announcement, the band has shared a new single and accompanying video, “Dopamine Ravine,” a swirling, psychedelic three-minute atmosphere that highlights the consequences of pleasure and forces you to sit with a decision made.
On the new single, the band shares: “As The Body Flies is a cathartic release for us. The first record of a new project and a vulnerable look inside the years leading up to the beginning of Materializer. Putting this together has been an exciting and often puzzling experience figuring out a new writing process as a duo, and letting the songs lead the way. That process has led us to new song structures, new gear, and new sounds. We wanted to create the heaviest record we’ve been a part of while also leaning into our roots of melodic vocals, emphasizing on compression and release, chaos and serenity, and balancing the light and dark in a way that feels in harmony with the world around us.”
The album was written, produced, performed, co-recorded, and co-engineered by Materializer: Conner Poole on guitar and vocals, Chris Poole on drums and vocals. The album was recorded by Dave “Squirrel” Covell and Materializer, mixed by Ben McLeod (All Them Witches), and mastered by Mikey Allred at Dark Art Audio. The record arrives on Friday, October 2, pre-orders are available now through the artist’s bandcamp: https://materializer.bandcamp.com/album/as-the-body-flies
Tracklisting:
1. Falling Out of the Void (5:55)
2. Walking Home (6:16)
3. Dopamine Ravine (3:01)
4. Swallowed in Rain (5:49)
5. Unwind (7:50)
6. Gateway Grand (4:01)
7. Longest Drag (4:59)
8. Trial (8:04)
Upcoming Tour Dates
8/26 — Chattanooga, TN at Red Bud
8/27 — Asheville, NC at The Odd
8/28 — Richmond, VA DIY show under a bridge in Oregon Hill Park
8/29 — Lynchburg, VA at Super Rad Arcade Bar
8/30 — Philadelphia, PA at Kung Fu Necktie
8/31 — Norfolk, VA at Norfolk Taphouse (w/ Earth Tongue)
9/4 — Nashville, TN at Eastside Bowl (w/ Moon Destroys and The Well)
Tix/info here 👇
https://Materializerband.com/shows
