Irist – ‘Gloria’ [EP] [Album Review]

At just shy of twenty-two minutes long, Gloria, the new EP from Atlanta’s progressive metal behemoths Irist, is a truly outstanding effort. Following up their 2020 debut full-lengther, Order of the Mind, the dense wall of riffs that hits you as the EP lurches into life with the title track is nothing short of perfection.

Yes, coming from Atlanta and sharing the same musical waters as Mastodon was always going to land Irist with that label but being spoken about in the same breath as a such game-changing group can never be a bad thing. Thankfully, this five-track effort isn’t just a mere Mastodon rip-off, and as the soothing passages wash over you during “Gloria,” you realize you’re listening to something quite magical. Calming in parts, pummelling in others, Irist has got the blend of both moods absolutely spot on throughout this EP.

From the soothing passages woven into the title track to the foundation-destroying heaviness of tracks like “Heal” and “Surging Ablaze,” Gloria is four tracks (and an interlude) showing precisely how intelligent and complex heavy music can sound. The eerie atmospherics and jarring electronics drenching “Watchful Eye,” the closing track on the EP, are the perfect example of how expansive the Irist sound is as this little taster leaves you with only one complaint and that is that the whole thing is over way too soon.

Gloria EP Track Listing:

1. Gloria
2. Heal
3. III
4. Surging Ablaze
5. Watchful Eye

Run Time: 21:42
Release Date: September 16, 2022
Record Label: Nuclear Blast Records