Heron Oblivion sounds like a peaceful meadow being slowly consumed by a beautiful, electric storm. At the center is Meg Baird’s voice, a crystalline and pure folk instrument that feels like it belongs in a 17th-century ballad. Surrounding her is a ferocious, dual-guitar assault that leans into the heaviest traditions of 1970s Japanese psych and American noise rock.
What makes them truly distinctive is the tension between these two poles. While most heavy psych bands use aggressive vocals to match their riffs, Heron Oblivion keeps the vocals delicate and melodic even as the guitars dissolve into feedback and white-hot fuzz. It creates a disorienting, hypnotic effect where you are simultaneously soothed and blasted.
Start with their self-titled debut album. It perfectly captures their ability to build from quiet, finger-picked beginnings into massive, sprawling jams that feel both ancient and entirely fresh. It is the ideal soundtrack for anyone who loves the beauty of Fairport Convention but wishes they played through a wall of broken Marshall stacks.
Heron Oblivion is an American psychedelic rock supergroup that first performed in April 2014, when they opened for the War on Drugs. Its members, all of whom were active in the psych-rock scene in the mid 2000s, are singer and drummer Meg Baird (formerly of Espers), bassist Ethan Miller (Comets on Fire and Howlin' Rain), guitarist Noel Von Harmonson (Comets on Fire, Sic Alps), and second guitarist Charlie Saufley (Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound). The band released its first album, which was self-titled, on March 4, 2016, on Sub Pop Records.
Shares mysterious, intense, dreamy (moods); psychedelic rock, noise rock, dream pop (subgenres)
Shares mysterious, intense, dreamy (moods); psychedelic rock, noise rock, dream pop (subgenres)
Shares mysterious, intense, dreamy (moods); psychedelic rock, noise rock, dream pop (subgenres)
Shares ethereal, gentle, soprano (vocal style); folk rock, psychedelic rock (subgenres)
Shares psychedelic rock, noise rock, dream pop (subgenres); mysterious, intense, dreamy (moods)
Shares intense, mysterious, restless (moods); analog warmth, reverb heavy, live recording (production style)
Shares psychedelic rock, noise rock, dream pop (subgenres); mysterious, intense, dreamy (moods)
Shares analog warmth, reverb heavy, noise textured (production style); forest, fog, dusk (atmosphere)
Shares psychedelic rock, noise rock, dream pop (subgenres); reverb heavy, noise textured, live recording (production style)
Shares noise rock, dream pop, psychedelic rock, dreamy (subgenre)
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