First of all, please hit play on this:
negativespace. — another sacrifice
In the early years when I first started listening to metal music, I discovered some truly great bands. There’s one local band in particular that I’d be remiss not to mention: The Climb. Whether it was their interview in *Non Serviam* or the fact that their sound and production were ahead of their time, it was a magnificent debut album.
They played a concert in Izmir right around the time the Satanist witch hunt craze was in full swing. I’ll never forget that day. It was one of my first metal concerts. A heavy metal band from Ankara—whose name I can’t recall—an Izmir-based doom metal band called Sermon, and finally, The Climb took the stage. Everyone was sitting in their seats, but when The Climb came on, everyone was on their feet. Since I didn’t have many friends who listened to metal back then, I went to that concert by myself. I still usually go to concerts by myself.
These days, negativespace gives me the same thrill that *The Climb* did when I first discovered it. Because in both, I find the same vision, the same production quality, and a sound that’s modern for its time. Neither band is well-known in this part of the world. What I’m talking about is pure musicality.
strangers in our skin I first heard about their albums from Ayberk Zeray. He plays Anatolian doom metal with Sivas Yat Club. He also creates high-quality content on Instagram. When I first listened to the album, I couldn’t believe it. They call their style “heavygaze.” It’s really great that such a shoegaze/heavygaze/alternative album came out of Ankara’s cold climate. In their Spotify bio, they say they formed in early 2025. I really liked the guitar work on the songs, but what I liked most about the band was the vocalist’s tone and style. It’s truly very, very impressive. The way the vocalist uses English, his pronunciation, and that slightly gritty, slightly rebellious edge were what drew me in the most. The guitar tones also add one of my favorite vibes from the hardcore-shoegaze genre.
The album kicks off with a lot of energy. I wish I were a musician too, so I could know the name of that effect in the guitar part at the beginning of the first track—"Strangers in Our Skin"—where the sound is muffled—that muffled-sounding part—and describe in a cool way how it affected me, but those who get it already do. The vocal melodies start right from the first track—sure, plenty of people do this much better, but I’m a huge fan of both Joel Ekelöf from Soen’s take on it and this guy’s version.
The second track also seems to start with a guitar riff straight out of the 2000s. The album carries me along with its 8 tracks without ever getting boring (“echoes,” “let us go,” “let us go”). In a few tracks, the drum and bass guitar really stand out as a rhythmic duo, carrying the song—a nice touch.
The song “A Calm Collapse” strikes me as really interesting. It has the vibe of a band that seems to have come straight from Ireland or England to play a concert at Taksim Blind. It leaves a strange aftertaste on my palate, much like Metric’s “Black Sheep” or cloudyfield’s “in your head.” I’m not talking about how they sound similar musically, but rather that indescribable feeling they evoke in me.
Another piece of good news is their new single, “somewhere far east,” which came out on October 9. I’d pre-registered it on Spotify and listened to it as soon as it dropped. They’re really stepping it up. They’re a great band. I’m also really proud that they’re Turkish. Good for them, man.
If you’re into shoegaze or heavygaze, you should definitely give this a listen. The album flows by quickly anyway—it has a total of 8 tracks and runs for 32 minutes. They also mention a few unreleased tracks in their interviews on Bir Baba Indie. I’ve really gotten into this band—maybe this post will reach a few people and help them gain new listeners. I hope you keep up the great work, guys. Don’t just leave us hanging like The Climb did.
Also, for those who are curious, here are some of his interviews on the Bir Baba Indie website: https://www.birbabaindie.com/bbi-yerli-258-negativespace/
Here are the Instagram accounts: https://www.instagram.com/negativespace.music/