Astronoid

About Astronoid

Astronoid started in 2012 when Brett Boland decided to make metal that didn't sound angry. The Massachusetts project began as a solo bedroom thing before expanding into a full band with guitarists Casey Aylward and Mike DeMellia, bassist Daniel Schwartz, and drummer Matt St. Jean. Their pitch was straightforward: what if you took blast beats and tremolo picking but made everything feel weightless instead of heavy.

Their 2016 debut Air did something unusual for a metal record. It removed the guttural vocals entirely, replacing them with clean singing that floated over walls of distorted guitars. Songs like A New Color and Incandescent stretched out into these massive, shimmering passages that borrowed equally from black metal and My Bloody Valentine. The production was bright where most metal goes dark. People called it dream thrash, which is reductive but not completely wrong.

Air got attention in certain corners of the internet, the kind where people argue about whether something counts as metal if it doesn't make you want to punch a wall. The album landed them on tours with Deafheaven and Pallbearer, bands working similar territory between extreme music and accessibility. They were suddenly playing to crowds who owned both Sunbather and Loveless on vinyl.

Their 2019 self-titled album smoothed out some of the rougher edges. Tracks like A Silent Ride and I Wish I Was There While the Sun Set leaned harder into alt-rock territory, losing some blast beats in exchange for bigger hooks. It split their audience a bit. Some fans missed the maximalist approach of Air, while others appreciated them figuring out how to write actual songs instead of just creating atmosphere for six minutes at a time.

Radiolarian dropped in 2022 and found better balance. The title track and Beyond the Scope showed they could still pummel you with tremolo-picked riffs while keeping those soaring vocal melodies intact. Admin felt like a genuine earworm, something you might catch yourself humming despite the wall of sound underneath it. The production became more dynamic, giving space for the quieter moments to actually land.

They've spent the past couple years touring consistently, including a solid run supporting Between the Buried and Me. The lineup shuffled a bit, with Tim Comeau taking over drums and Jeff Faragher joining on bass. They're still based in Massachusetts, still figuring out how bright you can make heavy music before it stops being heavy.

The band occupies this weird space where metal purists are suspicious and shoegaze fans think they're too aggressive. But that's probably where they work best, making music for people who own both Weakling and Slowdive records and don't see the contradiction.

Astronoid's shows are surprisingly subdued for a metal band. The crowd mostly stands and absorbs the dense, shimmering wall of sound they create. It's less fist-pumping and more glazed-over reverence. The interplay between instruments is tight enough that most of the energy is implied rather than displayed.

Known for Radiolarian, Breathe, Dial, Cascade, The Mechanics of Reload

See Astronoid Live