Brisbane, Australia’s Holystone release their second album, Accepting Omega, tomorrow, July 17. It’s a quick-considering-the-amount-of-ground-they-cover turnaround from their 2024 debut, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and the band traveled to the US to record with Jack Endino and Rancho de la Luna‘s Dave Catching — who helmed what is listed out below, as per Holystone‘s Bandcamp — but even the legends at the board become secondary to the eight-song/40-minute listening experience, which is expansive in terms of style in the vein of Melvinsian shenanigans, but more progressive, tonally weighted and with a greater melodic reach, bolstered from where the band were two years ago by the inclusion of bassist/vocalist Madi Morris alongside guitarist/vocalist Wolfe Peterson and drummer Jonny Pickvance.

Thoughtful arrangements persist regardless of the intensity of a given moment, and unto the ethereal-sweep-meets-fuzz-march of closer “The Oracle Speaks,” Holystone retain an ideology toward atmosphere without letting go of considering their place in it. The album begins with the heavy, slow roll of “The Prophecy (Jaws of Victory),” and here too the dual-vocal approach — which I’ve seen likened to Torche for the melody/crush blend and in Peterson‘s vocal particularly reminds as well of At Devil Dirt — is an asset as they lay out the landscape in which the rest of what follows will take place, the subsequent “Brave Design” taking off at a heads-down sprint of chug as the shortest inclusion at 2:54 but a crucial showcase of vitality just the same. None of the songs are super-long — “Procession” later on is six and a half minutes, and the two-parter “The Accomplice” it about a minute longer, neither of which feels unreasonable given what the band are doing — but they want nothing for either aural impact or impression-making therefrom.

“Guided by Stones” opens from the crunch of “Brave Design” with a complementary higher-register guitar sway, and Peterson‘s vocals, feeling willfully repetitive in Pickvance‘s drums as the band set up for Morris‘ entry, shouting up from deeper in the mix, veering into a tonal wash before emerging clearheaded from it with melody and slamming-groove intact. This balance of elements, of styles, of intention, plays out dynamically across the span of Accepting Omega — which ostensibly is about the end of the world happening in realtime — and so the low-end fuzz in “Sleepwalker” feels terrestrial after “Guided by Stones” let go into float for a bit, with an effective interplay between Morris and Peterson coming together after two minutes and words that make me wish I had a lyric sheet. Can’t get everything. They break it down with a classic bouncer of a riff — a progression I’ve heard before but can’t place, and so must be perfect — and end with residual noise before the quick intro to “Procession” makes known their intent to crush.

A chugging cycle takes hold, with Melvins-y command as it turns to a post-grunge onslaught and the leads begin to twist and pull before the whole thing drops to drums and sweeter threat of the renewed push of tension that, of course, is no less satisfying for being inevitable, and a cymbal crashout begins the “The Accomplice” duology. There are more than two parts, musically, but if you told me that somewhere in the midsection break is the divide from the shove of the former and the more open outreach of the latter, I’d have to believe you (the files I got mashed the two parts as a single track) for the turn from one to another, but again, it’s not so stark a break in the flow from one into the next. Stick clicks count in the penultimate “Cavitation” and bring foreboding guitar and the doomier nod it prophesies. Too active in the drums to be soothing, it nonetheless feels like something of a comedown from the sprawl of “The Accomplice” before, landing heavy in a way that feels complementary to “Procession” without being repetitive. Closer “The Oracle Speaks” pushes further in this vibe, with intermittent swells of distortion around quieter verse lines as the band dwell once more in the space they created at the outset, complex and vivid in kind, ending cold with what feels like purposeful suddenness.

And ‘purpose’ is kind of an overarching theme here, but it should be noted that none of the various plot twists and shifts from one moment to the next pull the listener away from Accepting Omega‘s forward movement and flow, and considering the range they cover, that is a noteworthy accomplishment, codifying what the debut laid out and setting to the task of refining a distinctive songwriting process. The results across the album are the victory it portrays, and it’s my pleasure to host it for a full premiere on the player below. PR wire info follows underneath.

Please enjoy:

Holystone, Accepting Omega album premiere

HOLYSTONE’s second album Accepting Omega marks a new page with newest member Madi Morris sharing vocal duties, and darker and heavier evolution for the band sound, trading much of the psychedelic warmth of their debut for something far more unnerving and existential.

The record follows eight standalone characters experiencing the end of the world under the influence of Omega – a young apocalyptic figure who appears as both guide and catalyst. Through fragmented perspectives of surrender, resistance and revelation, her seductive presence offers both solace and destruction.

Exploring themes of anxiety, depression, existentialism, mortality and the collapse of the modern world, Accepting Omega was recorded with legendary producer Jack Endino in Seattle (playing through the guitar amp used by Kurt on Bleach amp) and Dave Catching at Rancho de la Luna.

Tracklisting:
1. The Prophecy (Jaws of Victory)
2. Brave Design
3. Guided by Stones
4. Procession
5. Sleepwalker
6. The Accomplice Pt.I (The Offer)
7. The Accomplice Pt.II (Father’s Funeral)
8. Cavitation
9. The Oracle Speaks

Produced by HOLYSTONE

Tracks 1, 2, 4, 8
Recorded by Jack Endino at Soundhouse, Seattle

Tracks 3, 5, 6, 7, 9
Recorded by Dave Catching at Rancho De La Luna

Vocals and extras recorded by HOLYSTONE

Mixed by Mike Deslandes
Mastered by Matt Bartlem

Cover photo by Dani Mattiuzzi
Rear photo by Luis Bran

Holystone:
Drums – Jonny Pickvance
Bass – Jack Bratt
Extra bass – Madi Morris
Guitar – Wolfe Peterson

Holystone Linktr.ee

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